As the Blogistan Polytechnic Institute resident faculty made their way from the wine cellar library where they'd spent the weekend drinking thinking on our motto of Magis vinum, magis verum ("More wine, more truth") to the hot tub faculty lounge for their weekly game where the underwear goes flying planning conference, one might have thought they'd been watching a science fiction movie. They were mumbling about a different world.
More below the fold....
First, however, we must thank Professor of Neuroholdemology Caractacus for last Tuesday's thoughtful review of What We Learned This Decade. It is well worth reading if you missed it.
This week we will have three guest diarists. On Tuesday, Caractacus returns to his Things We Learned This Week series by introducing Dr. Drew Westen's research on emotion in politics. Caractacus plans to write on this topic for the next few weeks, so if you can get a copy of Dr. Westen's The Political Brain, you might enjoy reading ahead. On Wednesday, Professor of Ursacyclicammology KVoimakas will discuss ends, means, and motivation. On Thursday, Professor of Juronursinfosystology FarWestGirl will discuss why progressives must challenge right-wing lies and not blithely assume those lies will die on their own. As always, Chef will be around with coffee and bagels, and the Professor of Astrology Janitor will be about 5'10" tall, unless he's sitting.
Note: We currently have guest diarists scheduled for each Wednesday through February 3rd. However, no one has yet offered to step in for JanF and write the Top of the Morning featurettes on Tuesdays or Thursdays. TotM has become a valued part of Morning Feature, but JanF has extra work on those mornings. If you would be willing to fill in for her on a Tuesday or Thursday, or guest host Morning Feature on February 10th or any Wednesday following, please volunteer in a reply to TotM below.
Which brings us to the resident faculty's mutterings about a different world. One recurring theme of Morning Feature is examining our challenges and evaluating proposed solutions in terms of the structures, institutions, systems, and conditions of the world we live in. While it's important to envision and work for a better world, to get there we must work from where we are now.
History offers few examples of tabulae rasa - blank canvases on which to paint as new - and those examples follow calamities that few of us would want: catastrophic wars, plagues, and natural disasters. More often, progress involves using the existing structures, institutions, and systems in light of current conditions to work toward better structures, institutions, systems, and conditions. So this week we'll explore how we can better balance hopeful futures with our frustrating present.
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A few words about Morning Feature:
This series is classified as a "community series" in the DKos FAQ, and that is a fair description. We are a community, and many of us enjoy sharing off-topic tidbits about our lives each day. Because that sense of community helps foster more civil and courteous discussions on the diarists' topics, we welcome those exchanges.
We have also developed our own community customs, some of which winterbanyan posts often for the benefit of new readers. Also among our customs - and unlike the site rule on diary-pimping - is that we allow readers to post links to their own diaries, and encourage readers to check out those linked diaries. Supporting each others' work is an important part of our community.
Another of our customs is that our diarists read each comment, and try to reply to each "first comment" (i.e.: on the left-hand margin) and/or each direct question in other comments. That helps to include new readers more quickly in the discussion, reduces the urge to reply to the diarists' tip jars for fear they won't read replies farther downthread, and promotes a more inclusive discussion.
For that reason, Morning Feature is not an open thread.
Our diarists spend a lot of time developing and writing their Morning Feature essays, researching and offering a topic for discussion. So while we enjoy the off-topic social comments and links to other diaries, they should not replace discussion of the diarists' topics. When they do, Morning Feature can seem like a closed, chummy clique, rather than a political discussion community. It's also disrespectful to the diarist and the time he/she put into that day's essay.
The TotM thread is an excellent place to post off-topic comments about your life, your favorite sports team, or a diary you would like us to read. But please also join in the discussion of the diarist's topic. If you don't feel qualified to say anything about the topic, ask a question. Our diarists and other readers enjoy answering questions, and your question may stimulate ideas that would not otherwise have been discussed.
Thank you for being a part of our community.
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Happy Monday!