Philadelphia Political Agnostics

Braver Angels Event: "What Role Does Patriotism Have in Schools?"

Mon, Aug 17 · 7:00 PM EDT

·

Online

Online

The Orange County Alliance of Braver Angels is hosting an online discussion in partnership with Dignity.Us, AllSides, the Prohuman Foundation, the Listen First Project, Living Room Conversations, and Courageous Conversations about our Schools. I thought it might be of interest to our members...

Event Description:
What place does patriotism have in schools? Join a live national conversation with diverse voices from across America.
Patriotism is one of those terms that seems pretty simple—until you start talking about it.

Across the country, Americans are debating whether schools should help shape students’ sense of patriotism and civic identity. Some believe schools should cultivate love of country, civic responsibility, and national unity, while others worry that teaching patriotism can become a form of indoctrination or limit open discussion about difficult parts of American history.

In this live online event, a politically and culturally diverse group of students, parents, educators, writers, and community members will explore what patriotism means to them personally and what role, if any, schools should play in shaping it.

Rather than trying to win an argument, this conversation aims to model thoughtful listening, honest dialogue, and the possibility of finding more common ground than we often imagine.

Questions? Contact Mary Thomas-Vallens, marytv@braverangels.org; Ken Futernick ken@schoolconversations.org; Paige Swartz paige@braverangels.org

Registering for the Online Event:
This is a FREE event; however, you will need to register for it. Go to the following Eventbrite link & fill out the registration form:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-role-does-patriotism-have-in-schools-a-fishbowl-webinar-registration-1990250374446?discount=BRAVER&aff=oddtdtcreator

Registration for this event will be closed 12 hours prior to the scheduled starting time. Check your email for the confirmation message with the Zoom link - if you don't see it, check your "Junk" folder.

• Note: Braver Angels events may be recorded, and may be shared with media or used in Braver Angels publications, including web pages. Participants who object to this may disable their video.

What is "Braver Angels"?
Formerly known as "Better Angels", Braver Angels is an organization founded in 2016 to depolarize American politics through grassroots organizing. They do this primarily by hosting events for cross-partisan dialogue & civil debate. To learn more, go to https://braverangels.org/

Braver Angels Debate: "Should We Adopt Networked Surveillance?"

Thu, Aug 20 · 7:00 PM EDT

·

Online

Online

Debate Topic:
Resolved: "New York State communities should implement networked surveillance (like Flock)."

About this Event:
The New York State chapter of Braver Angels is hosting a debate on networked surveillance systems that I thought might be of interest to some of our members. For a basic overview of Flock Safety, one of the major providers of networked surveillance for law enforcement, check out its Wikipedia entry and note the sections on "Efficacy" and "Privacy concerns and potential misuse".

You can also check out a recent public opinion poll on networked surveillance conducted by Critical Tech Solutions that suggests that nearly three-quarters of respondents (73%) said that smart surveillance systems help emergency services respond faster. But many have significant concerns about continued surveillance after emergencies have passed, with a staggering 83.3% of respondents saying they believe smart surveillance is likely being misused right now, without public knowledge, while 77.3% say these systems could violate personal privacy.

What do you think? Is networked surveillance the best way to reduce crime and ensure public safety, or is it a dangerous infringement on our privacy and civil liberties? Join us Aug. 20th at 7:00 pm ET to share your perspective on "Resolved: New York State communities should implement networked surveillance (like Flock)."

Remember, our resolutions never represent Braver Angels' stance on any issue, and we alternate between speeches for and against the resolution.

Come join us for this free national debate, in which all participants from across the ideological spectrum will have an opportunity to speak and ask their questions. Tell us what you have experienced and what you think.

Register on the Eventbrite page and the Zoom link will be emailed to you a couple of days prior to the event. Keep an eye out!

Questions? Email Jennifer Borgioli Binis at jborgioli@gmail.com.

Registering for the Online Debate:
This is a FREE event; however, you will need to register for it. Go to the following Eventbrite link & fill out the registration form:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/resolved-nys-communities-should-implement-networked-surveillance-registration-1994304069156?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true&discount=BRAVER

Registration for this debate will be closed 12 hours prior to the scheduled starting time. Check your email for the confirmation message with the Zoom link - if you don't see it, check your "Junk" folder.

• Note: Braver Angels events may be recorded, and may be shared with media or used in Braver Angels publications, including web pages. Participants who object to this may disable their video.

What is "Braver Angels"?
Formerly known as "Better Angels", Braver Angels is an organization founded in 2016 to depolarize American politics through grassroots organizing. They do this primarily by hosting events for cross-partisan dialogue & civil debate. To learn more, go to https://braverangels.org/

About Braver Angels debates:
You probably haven’t experienced anything like a Braver Angels Debate. This is a highly structured conversation in which a group of people think together, listen carefully to one another, and allow themselves to be touched and perhaps changed by each other’s ideas.

To learn more about our debates, you can take a look at our Quick Start Guide and this video about the spirit of a Braver Angels Debate. For further information, including to find additional upcoming events or view recordings of some of our past debates, please visit: https://braverangels.org/what-we-do/debates/

Bi-Weekly Discussion - How Rap Predicted the Manosphere

Sun, Aug 23 · 3:00 PM EDT

·

Online

Online

This is going to be an online meetup using Zoom. If you've never used Zoom before, don't worry — it's easy to use and free to join.

Click on the link above at the scheduled date/time to log in...

***

***

HOW RAP PREDICTED THE MANOSPHERE:
WHY DID A CYNICAL, ZERO-SUM VIEW OF SEX & RELATIONSHIPS EMERGE IN MALE SUBCULTURES OVER THE LAST 50 YEARS?

INTRODUCTION:

There have been many recent op-eds & media coverage of a growing “crisis of masculinity,” with young men struggling in school, experiencing worse mental health, facing uncertain financial prospects, and having difficulty relating to young women. These problems are sometimes linked to bad advice they encounter online from the “manosphere” — a loose collection of blogs, podcasts, influencers and forums that often promote a more aggressive masculinity and argue that feminism and changing gender norms have disadvantaged men.

The inspiration for this meetup comes from Eric Ehigie’s essay "Hip Hop, Tupac, and Toxic Masculinity". Ehigie points out parallels between some of today’s manosphere advice and the reductive views of women and relationships he encountered as a young man listening to hip-hop from the 1990s. He argues that one important cause of "toxic masculinity" is a lack of positive male role models, connected to fatherlessness, family breakdown, and broader social and economic pressures.

Whether or not you agree with his analysis, it raises an interesting historical question: why have different male subcultures over the last half-century repeatedly developed cynical, often zero-sum views of heterosexual relationships, in which men are warned against emotional dependence and masculine success is measured partly through sexual conquests, status, control, and avoiding attachments?

Rather than examining these subcultures in isolation, we’ll place them in the social, economic and demographic environments in which they developed. We’ll ask how much their attitudes were shaped by changes in marriage, family structure, employment, crime, sexual norms and dating markets — and whether these forces determined their behavior or merely constrained the choices available to them. We'll also ask what draws young men to macho male role models who preach a cynical view of sex & relationships, at to what extent does the advice they get work - even if only in a limited context and only if we ignore the negative side effects. Finally, we'll consider whether or not misogynistic attitudes in pop culture & self-help advice marketed to male audiences acts as a feedback loop, i.e. whether taking what was once one man's negative views of women and making it mainstream can make gender conflict more common in overall society.

In the 1st section, we’ll examine the pre-history of hip-hop's pimps & players in the urban fiction of the 1960s-70s. Specifically, we'll look at the cultural impact of the autobiography of Robert Beck, better known as "Iceberg Slim", entitled Pimp: The Story of My Life (1967), along with the gritty urban fiction of Donald Goines in the 1970s - notably Dopefiend (1971) and Whoreson (1972). These books vividly portrayed the black underworld of "hustlers" - i.e. pimps, prostitutes, drug pushers, racketeers, gangsters - that had existed in Northern & Midwestern cities since the Great Migration in the 1910s-20s but had rarely been presented so explicitly to a mass audience. Similar characters soon appeared in “blaxploitation” films such as Super Fly (1972), The Mack (1973), Willie Dynamite (1973) and Dolemite (1975).
These works were influential for many young black men growing up in the '70s, including some who went on to become famous rappers such as Ice-T, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Too Short and 50 Cent and comedians like Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, and Dave Chappelle.

We’ll ask why "pimps" - an older, relatively marginal criminal subculture that was once shunned & despised - gained so much cultural cachet during the upheavals of the late 1960s and 1970s? Beck himself seemed somewhat mystified by the younger generation's fascination with pimping, arguing that it was a product of the limited opportunities for legitimate employment under racial segregation and would soon be driven out by civil rights and the rise of black nationalism. Did the mass appeal of the "pimp" in this period reflect the "tangle of pathology" left by the decline in two-parent black families described in the 1965 Moynihan Report, or was it more related to strands of black radicalism that portrayed criminals as anti-establishment underdogs and the growth of an urban black consumer market hungry for masculine heroes? To what extent was the pimp fantasy part of the way young men (black & white) engaged with the broader Sexual Revolution that made casual sex less consequential with the birth control pill and created a burgeoning nightlife built around the pursuit of sex?

We’ll also look at an important irony: Iceberg Slim later insisted that Pimp was meant as a cautionary tale about exploitation, addiction and imprisonment, yet many young male readers focused instead on its glamour, money, women and street cred. That raises a question that will recur throughout the meetup: why do younger men so often admire the youthful exploits of older men while ignoring those same men’s later warnings?

In the 2nd section, we’ll look at the rise of gangsta rap in the late 1980s and early 1990s, which often glamorized drug dealers, pimps, and gang bangers for a new generation of young Black men — while developing a surprising crossover appeal among suburban white teenagers. We’ll examine how gangsta rap went beyond merely describing sex in graphic terms like the "dirty rap" of the 1980s and developed an antagonistic worldview of "pimps/players" versus "hoes/b*tches" epitomized by song titles like NWA's "A Bitch Iz a Bitch" (1987), Dr. Dre's "B*tches Ain't Shit" (1992) and Snoop Dogg's "G'z Up, Hoes Down" (1993). This was also reflected in the dialogue of the male characters in the "hood films" of this era such as Boyz n The Hood (1991), Juice (1992) and Menace II Society (1993). where the female characters were often relegated to the roles of sexual conquests, tragic victims or peripheral characters.
We'll see how Tupac Shakur is an interesting case study, and ask how he could write rap anthems celebrating black women like "Brenda's Got a Baby" (1992) and "Keep Ya Head Up" (1993) to getting convicted of sexual abuse in 1994 and then writing a misogynistic rant like "Wonda Why They Call U Bytch" (1996) that name-checked C. Dolores Tucker, a civil rights leader who'd been campaigning against misogynistic lyrics in rap.

We’ll examine how the overt misogyny in gangsta rap may have been a reflection of the climate in poor inner-city neighborhoods amid the crack epidemic, deindustrialization, urban decay, and mass incarceration. Together, these factors diminished the pool of young black men with decent jobs, accelerating the decline of black marriages. This void may have created a reckless hookup culture in lower-income black communities, judging by the peak in teen pregnancy rates and a surge in HIV infections that hit black communities especially hard in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Although both trends declined later in the decade due to "safer sex" campaigns, black men's educational attainment continued to lag behind black women into the 21st century, leading to a persistent shortage of eligible black bachelors & low black marriage rates later described in Ralph Richard Bank's book Is Marriage for White People? (2011). We’ll ask whether these forces may have shifted dating norms in the broader black community towards a more cynical & adversarial approach, or whether what was portrayed by hip-hop was only indicative of a subculture in low-income areas, described by sociologist Elijah Anderson in 1994 as the difference between "decent" and "street" cultures.

By the late 1990s and early 2000s, gangsta rap increasingly gave way to “bling rap" focused less on street survival and more on the fruits of success: luxury cars, designer clothes, diamond-studded jewelry, bottle service in VIP lounges, and groupies galore. The pimp gradually became the “player” — a man whose women were less a source of illicit income than a status symbol. However, bling rap's songs often framed romantic commitment as an emotional & financial trap for high-value men, something they were better off avoiding. Songs that exemplify this mentality include DMX's list of conquests in "What These B*tches Want" (1999), Jay-Z's club banger "Big Pimpin" (2000), Eminem's bitter post-divorce track "Superman" (2002), 50 Cent's pimp anthem "P.I.M.P." (2003), and Kanye West's blues-influenced cautionary tale "Gold Digger" (2005).

We’ll ask whether these songs gave young men of many racial & class backgrounds a theory for why some women seemed attracted to high-status “bad boys,” along with a vocabulary for thinking about sex, respect, jealousy, betrayal, and emotional detachment during the expanding hookup culture of the 1990s and 2000s. We'll also see how several famous rappers (Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z) embraced marriage & fatherhood later on, and ask to how their fans viewed the way some of them repudiated their past treatment of women. We'll use the reality show Snoop Dogg's Father Hood (2007-8) which showed his home life with his wife and their three children and Jay-Z's song "Glory" (2012), released two days after the birth of his first child with his wife Beyonce, as an example of this shift in a former player's mindset.

In the 3rd section, we’ll look at the rise of the online “pickup artist” or PUA subculture, made famous by Neil Strauss’s The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists (2005). Unlike the pimp or gangsta traditions, PUA culture emerged mainly from socially-awkward, middle-class white men mixing self-help advice, various strands of pop psychology (notably evolution psychology, sales psychology & neuro-linguistic programming), and a wide assortment of tactics & gimmicks to figure out how to attract women in nightclubs. These included things like wearing flashy clothes ("peacocking"), using scripted conversation starters ("openers") rather than cheesy pickup lines, doing magic tricks & personality tests to appear intriguing, making subtle "demonstrations of higher value" (DHV) rather than overt bragging, using escalating forms of physical touch ("kino ladder") to build comfort and then attraction, and perhaps most infamously - using veiled insults & backhanded compliments to lower a woman's self-esteem ("negging"). The only things the PUAs obviously adopted from rap music were a few terms like "game" and "player", yet they arrived at some surprisingly similar ideas about female duplicity, the need to display "social proof" and dominance, and the dangers of appearing needy or clingy.

The Game was published the same year that Hitch, Wedding Crashers and The 40-Year-Old Virgin turned male anxiety about dating, seduction and casual sex into comedy gold. For a brief period, pickup tactics could be portrayed as quirky, mischievous and relatively harmless. And this coincided with what's sometimes viewed in retrospect as "peak hookup culture" on college campuses and urban nightclubs from the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, driven by factors like a good economy, receding fear of AIDS, and the rise of cell phones & "sexting". There was also a growing gender imbalance on college campuses & among college grads that made eligible male bachelors in shorter supply and drove women to compete for them with sex, as economist Jon Birger described in Date-onommics (2015).

We’ll ask how the dating world changed after the 2008 financial crisis, the rise of smartphones, the rapid growth of online dating, and the growing political polarization between men & women that coincided with the "Great Awokening". Did greater economic insecurity make dating more difficult and delay serious relationships and marriage? Did smartphones leave people too distracted to flirt with strangers - or perhaps make singles more prone to flaking out on dates and "ghosting" romantic partners? Did dating apps make things too competitive, swamping women with too many messages while most men struggled to get a reply? Did growing political divisions between men & women make it harder to find someone you could relate to? Did heavy media coverage of a "campus rape crisis" in the 2010s and the #MeToo movement in 2017 pour further cold water on women's enthusiasm for casual sex? Did these changes collectively produce what a 2015 Vanity Fair article called the “dating apocalypse” and a 2018 Atlantic article called the "sex recession"?

By the mid-2010s, the pickup artist community was in crisis - perhaps partly due to the headwinds for dating outlined above, but also due to its own internal problems. In May of 2014, the Isla Vista killings by Elliott Roger drew attention to an underground of sexually frustrated men who had concluded that “game” could not overcome inequalities in looks and status. Later that year, there was an international controversy over the aggressive tactics of PUA guru Julien Blanc that led the UK, Australia and Singapore to deny his visa and provoked a mainstream backlash against the entire concept of pickup artistry. And in 2015, ten years after The Game, Strauss published The Truth: An Uncomfortable Book About Relationships, describing his own struggles maintaining a healthy monogamous relationship while repudiating some of the manipulative tactics of the PUA industry. Together, these developments raised 3 different criticisms of pickup culture: (1) it did not work for many less attractive men, (2) some of its tactics were morally objectionable & borderline illegal, and (3) even successful seduction often did not produce satisfying long-term relationships.

In the 4th section, we’ll look at what emerged from the fragmentation of PUA culture and the broader growth of the online “manosphere” during the 2010s. Websites such as A Voice for Men, founded in 2009 by Paul Elam, and Return of Kings, run from 2012 to 2022 by Daryush Valizadeh (a.k.a. "Roosh V"), as well as Rollo Tomasi's book The Rational Male (2013), became early focal points for the so-called "red-pill" philosophy. This red-pill manosphere combined the PUA ideas about seduction strategies with older ideas from "men's rights activists" (MRAs) into a broader theory of female hypergamy leading women to chase "alpha males" and ignore "beta males", "gynocentric" educational & legal systems that favor women over men, online mobs of "Social Justice Warriors" (SJWs) targeting conservatives through "cancel culture" and enacting "trial by social media" for men accused of sexual harassment, and the resulting social pressures on men that drive down marriage rates and drive up rates of male unemployment, loneliness, depression & suicide.

While the "red pill" philosophy emphasized how to come out a winner in this sort of dog-eat-dog world and become a "high-value male" that can still get lots of sex from various women, different parts of the manosphere offered very different responses to similar anxieties. So-called "black-pill" and "incel" (involuntary celibate) communities became increasingly fatalistic, arguing that immutable traits like height & facial structure place severe limits on romantic success even for men who are financially successful, leaving expensive cosmetic surgery (a.k.a. "looksmaxxing") as the only alternative. Meanwhile, the MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way) movement often urges men to avoid women & either subsist on porn or embrace "monk mode" celibacy to avoid being ruined by false rape claims, paternity fraud, divorce settlements or child support. There's even a Christian conservative corner of the manosphere - known as the "God pill" - that rejects the promiscuity of the PUAs/red-pill gurus and the celibacy of the incels/MGTOWs in favor of men seeking out traditional women for marriage where the husband assumes his natural position as authority figure & breadwinner and the "trad wife" is a stay-at-home mother and housewife.

By 2017, Jordan Peterson emerged as an adjacent influence on young men through his lectures and his self-help book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (2018). He opposed "wokeness" but also pickup tactics & hookup culture, emphasizing instead the importance of honesty, personal responsibility, finding meaningful work, and achieving traditional adult milestones like marriage & child-rearing. But by the 2020s, he'd hemorrhaged followers to a louder manosphere developed around self-proclaimed “alpha male” influencers such as Andrew & Tristan Tate, Justin Waller, Adin Ross, "Sneako" (Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy), "Myron Gaines" (Amrou Fudl) and Walter Weekes, who combined red-pill ideas with conspicuous displays of wealth & physical fitness.

In some sense, the current manosphere influencers have fused the PUA views on sexual attraction and verbal "game" with the ideas from rap music about the need to project an image of success through conspicuous consumption and earn respect with tough guy rhetoric and sometimes physical violence. Some of these influencers merely court controversy to increase online engagement with their content, but others have a business model that revolves around selling young men a mix of dating advice, workout tips, and various "get rich quick" schemes. With the Tate brothers we've come full-circle to Beck's pimp racket, since they not only imitate the lavish lifestyle of rappers but also made their fortunes as "webcam pimps" in Romania controlling a stable of women who stripped online. They helped their cam-girls milk "simps" (lonely & desperate male fans) for money with fake sob stories, and then marketed this business model to the subscribers to their "Hustler's University" courses as a way to achieve financial independence. This ultimately what led to the Tate brothers facing charges in multiple countries for sexual abuse and human trafficking, since multiple women have alleged they were assaulted and held against their will.

We’ll conclude by asking whether these modern manosphere ideologies are genuinely new or updated versions of much older masculine archetypes — the rake, libertine, pimp, player and pickup artist — that become more attractive when young men spend a long period navigating an uncertain and competitive relationship market outside stable marriage.
More broadly, when traditional institutions regulate relationships less strongly, do men and women simply gain greater freedom? Or does the resulting uncertainty also encourage them to think about sex as a marketplace in which physical attractiveness, status and wealth are commodities? And to what extent do cultural portrayals of a dog-eat-dog world where men & women exploit each other create a feedback loop by amplifying cynicism & mistrust in their audiences, eventually shifting enough people's behavior to make the real world noticeably worse?

RELEVANT MATERIAL FROM PAST MEETUPS:

Way back in July of 2017, we had a meetup entitled "The Economics of Sex" which addressed some current political debates surrounding sexual norms, dating & marriage from an economic & game theoretical perspective. We looked at how birth control split the dating & marriage markets, why the odds of finding a suitable mate declines over time, and how one's "sexual market value" is affected by 4 factors: beauty, age, socio-economic status, and race.

Then in Aug. 2017, we had a meetup entitled "Sex, Demographics & Declinism" where we discussed concerns over how marriage & child-rearing has been delayed for white collar workers, how the marriage rate has declined for blue collar workers, how the divorce rate has declined but remained relatively high, and how birth rates in the US are teetering on the brink of sub-replacement rates, leading to a demographic decline that can only be prevented through mass immigration.

Back in July of 2019, the Skeptics had a meetup entitled "Debunking Cyber-Sex Panics" and the 4th section fact-checked some of the sensational media narratives about "incels" becoming mass shooters. In this context, we briefly discussed the connection between online forums for incels and the red pill manosphere and PUA blogs.

In Aug. 2021, we had a meetup entitled "Has the Internet Ruined Romance & Relationships?" We covered debates over the social effects of internet porn, online dating, sexting, and "raunch culture". We also contrasted media narratives about a rampant "hookup culture" among young people with stats that show an overall "sex recession" - i.e. a decline in sexual activity & teen pregnancy - among Millennials & Gen Z.

DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR OUR DISCUSSION:

The videos & articles you see linked below are intended to give you a basic overview of some of the major debates over the rise of the "red pill" manosphere and where its ideas about the "sexual marketplace" & adversarial gender roles originated, i.e. from the hip-hop subculture & rap music or from broader socio-economic forces that pit men & women against each other. As usual, I certainly don't expect you to read all the articles prior to attending our discussion. The easiest way to prepare for our discussion is to just watch the numbered videos linked under each section - the videos come to about 63 minutes total. The articles marked with asterisks are just there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry - we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.

In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the topics in the order presented here. I've listed some questions under each section to stimulate discussion. We'll do our best to address most of them, as well as whatever other questions our members raise. I figure we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section.

***

I. THE RISE OF THE PIMP SUBCULTURE IN THE 1960s-70s AMID THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION & BREAKDOWN OF THE BLACK FAMILY:

• SECTION 1, QUESTION 1: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 1, QUESTION 2: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 1, QUESTION 3: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 1, QUESTION 4: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 1, QUESTION 5: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

1a) Elexus Jionde (Intelexual Quickies), "The Pimp American Dream" (video - 14:14 min, listen to 9:45)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSIM-exCB7c

1b) Robert Beck, "Iceberg Slim explains being Street Poisoned" (video - 0:53 min)
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/woD0dPGXByY

• ARTICLE 1 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• ARTICLE 2 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• ARTICLE 3 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• ARTICLE 4 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

II. FROM GANGSTA RAP IN THE 1990s TO BLING RAP IN THE 2000s & THEIR PORTRAYAL OF "PIMPS" & "HOES":

• SECTION 2, QUESTION 1: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 2, QUESTION 2: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 2, QUESTION 3: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 2, QUESTION 4: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 2, QUESTION 5: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

2a) Tupac Shakur, "Interview at 17 Years Old" (video - 1:42 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_6joGcy9XI

2b) Tupac Shakur, "Wonda Why They Call U Bytch" (video - 4:18 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5VL2sgjPjM

2c) Jay-Z feat. UGK, "Big Pimpin" (video - 5:13 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVQFZU_P0LU

2d) Jay-Z, "Glory" (video - 4:01 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL_imScBuqo

• ARTICLE 1 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• ARTICLE 2 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• ARTICLE 3 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• ARTICLE 4 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

III. THE RISE OF THE PICKUP ARTIST (PUA) SUBCULTURE & ITS ROM-COM COUNTERPARTS AMID "PEAK HOOKUP CULTURE" IN THE 2000s:

• SECTION 3, QUESTION 1: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 3, QUESTION 2: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 3, QUESTION 3: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 3, QUESTION 4: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 3, QUESTION 5: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

3a) Jimmy Kimmel w/ Neil Strauss, "Neil Strauss Picks Up Jessica Alba" (video - 8:53 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC0hrqbhx5M

3b) CBS Morning w/ Neil Strauss, "Pickup artist reveals his struggle with monogamy in 'The Truth'" (video - 5:33 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eVDNtXmiXM

• ARTICLE 1 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• ARTICLE 2 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• ARTICLE 3 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• ARTICLE 4 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

IV. THE POST-TINDER "DATING APOCALYPSE" & THE RISE OF THE MANOSPHERE'S VARIOUS "PILLS" IN THE 2010s-2020s:

• SECTION 4, QUESTION 1: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 4, QUESTION 2: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 4, QUESTION 3: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 4, QUESTION 4: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 4, QUESTION 5: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

4a) Chris Oath, "The Very Dark Side of Andrew Tate (as an ex-fan)" (video - 12:53 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dldgHPwsYcw

4b) Joe Rogan & Jordan Peterson, "On The Narcissism Of Andrew Tate" (video - 5:01 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrbYQjjQdUQ

• ARTICLE 1 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• ARTICLE 2 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• ARTICLE 3 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• ARTICLE 4 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bi-Weekly Discussion - Is There a Case for (Cautious) Climate Optimism?

Sun, Sep 6 · 3:00 PM EDT

·

Online

Online

This is going to be an online meetup using Zoom. If you've never used Zoom before, don't worry — it's easy to use and free to join.

Click on the link above at the scheduled date/time to log in...

***

***

IS THERE A CASE FOR (CAUTIOUS) CLIMATE OPTIMISM:
CAN WE STILL AVERT CATASTROPHIC CLIMATE CHANGE WITHOUT "DEGROWTH" BY QUICKLY TRANSITIONING TO 100% RENEWABLE ENERGY?

INTRODUCTION:

In this meetup, we'll discuss how advances in solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, electric vehicles have excited economists and technology experts, many of whom now think we may be able to avert catastrophic climate change later in the 21st century without resorting to "degrowth" policies that make everyone poorer. Instead of linking several short videos under each section, I'm just asking our members to watch this 80-minute talk between The NY Times journalist Ezra Klein and the environmentalist Bill McKibben about his new book Here Comes the Sun and how it sheds some light on these current debates:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogAZS7_RhhA

* Note: You can also read an edited transcript of their discussion here - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-bill-mckibben.html - or an archived copy here - https://archive.ph/OTedv

[insert Bill McKibben bio]

McKibben's latest book is titled Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization (2025). According to the publisher's blurb, it "tells the story of the sudden spike in power from the sun and wind―and the desperate fight of the fossil fuel industry and their politicians to hold this new power at bay. From the everyday citizens who installed solar panels equal to a third of Pakistan’s electric grid in a year to the world’s sixth-largest economy―California―nearly halving its use of natural gas in the last two years, Bill McKibben traces the arrival of plentiful, inexpensive solar energy. And he shows how solar power is more than just a path out of the climate crisis: it is a chance to reorder the world on saner and more humane grounds. You can’t hoard solar energy or hold it in reserves ― it’s available to all. There’s no guarantee we can make this change in time, but there is a hope ― in McKibben’s eyes, our best hope for a new civilization: one that looks up to the sun, every day, as the star that fuels our world."

In this 1st section of this meetup, we'll discuss the first 5 sections of the talk (after the brief intro) entitled "Costco renewable energy has arrived", "Free electricity in Australia", "Battery innovation", "Global energy landscape" and "The new possibilities" which goes up to almost the 34:00 mark. These sections mostly deal with debates over the possibilities created by recent technological developments.

In the 2nd section, we'll skip ahead anddiscuss the section entitled "Global warming acceleration" that runs from about 41:00 to 47:00. This section focuses on differing projections from climate scientists and predictions of climate-related damage by environmental economists, with the implication that faster warming & more severe near-term damages requires a faster clean energy transition.

In the 3rd section, we'll discuss the sections of the talk entitled "Climate backlash during the Trump era", "The state of climate politics", "Political lessons for this moment", "Implementing the clean energy future" and "Is solarpunk the future of the left?" that stretch from 34:00 to about 80:00, but notice that I've broken out the topics of global warming acceleration and U.S. tariffs on China into separate sections. The remaining sections mostly deal with political barriers to a rapid clean energy transition, such as the fossil fuel industry lobbyists who push the GOP to block any taxes or regulations that would hurt their industry, as well as the NIMBYs in blue states that lead to endless hearings & red tape that holds up clean energy projects.

In the 4th section, we'll discuss the section entitled "Were U.S. tariffs on China a mistake?" that runs from about 57:00 to 62:00. This section focuses on the complex links between foreign policy, trade policy and climate policy, but the main question is fairly straightforward, i.e. can the U.S. achieve a rapid clean energy transition without relying on Chinese imports?

RELEVANT MATERIAL FROM PAST MEETUPS:

In Sept. 2025, we had a meetup entitled "Is the U.S. Facing an Energy Crisis?" We discussed: (1) how geopolitical turmoil has driven a push for "energy independence" that often neglects critical inputs, (2) the California & Texas grid failures of 2020-2021 and risks of a broader energy crisis in the near future, (3) debates over the Biden administration's push for renewable energy & attempts to phase out fossil fuels, (4) debate over the 2nd Trump administration's renewed focus on fossil fuels and deemphasizing renewable energy.

Back in August 2025, Braver Angels hosted a debate over whether nuclear power is necessary to mitigate climate change. A video clip posted in the comments sections summarizes some of the pro & con arguments made.

Back in April 2025, we had a meetup entitled "Can 'Abundance Liberalism' Save the Democrats?" where we looked at arguments made in Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson's new book Abundance (2025) for why blue states have allowed NIMBYism and red tape to get in the way of efforts to build solar panel & wind farms, EV charging stations, and high-speed rail. Unfortunately, as we discussed, much of the progressive punditry opposes the reforms advocated by the "Abundance agenda" and may make this a political non-starter, at least in the near term.

Way back in June 2019, we had a meetup entitled "How Should We Deal With Climate Change?" where we discussed how economists have worked with climate scientists to estimate the economic damages that various levels of warming could cause, and how we could rapidly transition to low-carbon energy production. For our discussion on energy policy, the most pertinent part of the climate change meetup was the 2nd section where we looked at various plans like James Baker & George Scultz's "carbon tax & dividends" plan which involves using a carbon tax to nudge us towards renewable energy while funding a payout to consumers to offset a rise in gas prices & electric bills, the progressive Democrats' "Green New Deal" which connects Keynesian economic stimulus and "green jobs" with renewable energy build-out, and the more radical "de-growth" policies that entail putting an end to consumerism, suburban living in single-family homes, and private car ownership in favor of spartan living conditions in eco-friendly urban high-rises & mass transit.

Also back in June of 2019, the Skeptics meetup hosted a discussion entitled "Do We Need Nuclear Power, Biofuels & Fracking to Address Climate Change?" They looked at the limits of solar & wind energy due to problems with intermittency & energy storage, and why many scientists are proposing to expand nuclear power & biofuels, and in some cases even endorse fracking for natural gas as a "bridge technology" to reduce coal & oil burning while we build up renewable energy capacity.

DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR OUR DISCUSSION:

The videos & articles you see linked below are intended to give you a basic overview of some of the major debates over the implications of the renewable energy revolution for both climate change and the economy. As usual, I certainly don't expect you to read all the articles prior to attending our discussion. The easiest way to prepare for our discussion is to just watch the video of Klein & McKibben's talk linked above The articles marked with asterisks are just there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry - we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.

In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the topics in the order presented here. I've listed some questions under each section to stimulate discussion. We'll do our best to address most of them, as well as whatever other questions our members raise. I figure we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section.

***

I. UNDERSTANDING THE CLEAN ENERGY REVOLUTION & ITS POSSIBILITIES:

• SECTION 1, QUESTION 1: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 1, QUESTION 2: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 1, QUESTION 3: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 1, QUESTION 4: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 1, QUESTION 5: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• Alex Trembath, "The SolarFix Is In: On 'Sun Day' and Bill McKibben’s Narrow Techno-Optimism"
  https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/the-solarfix-is-in
• Ted Nordhaus, "How Bill McKibben Lost the Plot: A new book by the high priest of the climate movement reads like the end of an era"
  https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/how-bill-mckibben-lost-the-plot
• Paul Fleckenstein, "Stopping Climate Change Will Never Be 'Good Business' - Climate activist and writer Bill McKibben's new book is an excellent account of how urgent the climate crisis in front of us is. But it stumbles in trying to prescribe green capitalist solutions to a problem that requires systematic change.”
  https://jacobin.com/2019/07/falter-bill-mckibben-350org-review
• ARTICLE 5 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

II. UNDERSTANDING THE SPEED & SEVERITY OF CLIMATE CHANGE:

• SECTION 2, QUESTION 1: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 2, QUESTION 2: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 2, QUESTION 3: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 2, QUESTION 4: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 2, QUESTION 5: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• James E. Hansen, et al., "Global Warming Has Accelerated: Are the United Nations and the Public Well-Informed?"
  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00139157.2025.2434494#abstract
• Claude Beaulieu, et al., "A recent surge in global warming is not detectable yet"
  https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01711-1
• Michael Shellenberger, "Why Apocalyptic Claims About Climate Change Are Wrong" (Forbes)
  https://archive.ph/ceKOS
• ARTICLE 4 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

III. UNDERSTANDING THE POLITICAL BARRIERS ON THE RIGHT & LEFT TO A RAPID CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION:

• SECTION 3, QUESTION 1: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 3, QUESTION 2: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 3, QUESTION 3: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 3, QUESTION 4: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 3, QUESTION 5: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• Christina Cauterucci w/ Bill McKibben, "The Old Climate-Activism Playbook No Longer Works. What Else Can?" (NY Times)
  https://archive.ph/o8FaK
• Timothy W. Luke, "Climate Change Deniers versus Climate Change Decriers: The Pragmatics of Climate Defense in the Age of Disinformation"
  https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1061&context=fastcapitalism
• Peter K. Busmen, et al., "Strategic Gestures in Bill McKibben's Climate Change Rhetoric"
  https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/communication/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2019.00040/full
• Bruce Ledewitz, "Bill McKibben Proves Me Right on Campaign
  Finance, Though He Probably Doesn’t Agree"
  https://dsc.duq.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2001&context=ledewitz-hallowedsecularism
• ARTICLE 3 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• ARTICLE 4 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

IV. UNDERSTANDING HOW US-CHINA RIVALRY COMPLICATES THE CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION:

• SECTION 4, QUESTION 1: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 4, QUESTION 2: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 4, QUESTION 3: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 4, QUESTION 4: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• SECTION 4, QUESTION 5: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• Kent Clark Forum, "[China] Tariffs, [Solar Panel] Technology, and Growth" (poll of top economists, Dec. 2024)
  https://kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/tariffs-technology-and-growth/
• Kent Clark Forum, "Tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles" (poll of top economists, Mar. 2024)
  https://kentclarkcenter.org/surveys/tariffs-on-chinese-electric-vehicles/
• Noah Smith, "China is quietly saving the world from climate change"
  https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/china-is-quietly-saving-the-world
• Seaver Wang, Ted Norah's & Vijaya Ramachandran, "Greenwashing With Chinese Characteristics: China's 'Green Electrostate' Is Neither"
  https://thebreakthrough.org/issues/energy/greenwashing-with-chinese-characteristics
• ARTICLE 4 - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX