Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,
Public displays of empty gestures are no substitute for action.
Politics is the art of the symbolic gesture. The successful symbolic gesture gains gravitas by crystallizing a narrative that attracts a consensus that then powers policies of substance.
Over the weekend we reported that as Obama was speaking at the APEC summit in Peru, hoping to salvage his global trade legacy, the TPP, China's President Xi Jinping officially called for the launch of the Free Trade Area of Asia-Pacific for "institutional guarantee of open economy", a move many had expected would take place as China was eager to fill in the void left by the US in any trans-Pacific trade treaty.
Yesterday I posted something about the parallels between Weimar Germany and contemporary America. In it, I quoted this from a profile of the Chapo Trap House guys, leftie podcasters in Brooklyn:
Submitted by Soeren Kern via The Gatestone Institute,
Supporters of Californian independence have taken the first step towards secession from the US by submitting a ballot proposal to the state attorney general. A group called called the ‘Yes California Independence Campaign’ submitted their proposal for a ballot measure on removing a piece of the state’s Constitution that describes it as an “inseparable” part of America. The group has been around since 2014, but the idea of California’s secession gained momentum since President-elect Donald Trump’s victory.