| Number 564 | October 27, 2014 |
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Greetings, Long-time readers know that I am not particularly comfortable with the self-promotion that is necessary for a successful Pledge Drive. But I do it anyway, because I need your help. Like most creative people and activists (and I consider myself sort of a hybrid of the two), I work at a "day job" to support myself. In fact, I have two day jobs. But, even put together, my two jobs don't produce enough income to entirely support myself. Which means that the ONLY way I can make the time to do all the things that I call the Nygaard Notes Project—research, writing, speaking, networking, media—is if I can continue to receive the support of readers like YOU. I live pretty cheaply, but there's only so low I can go! Therefore, every dollar you donate to Nygaard Notes is one less dollar I have to earn elsewhere. Or, to put it another way, every dollar you donate frees up that much more time for me to spend doing my chosen work, the work of a working class public intellectual. There are not too many of us around, if you think about it. That is, it's pretty rare to find people doing intellectual work who are not college educated, not supported by any institutions, not embedded in a corporation, and not employed to promote someone else's agenda. I can see why there are so few of us; it's lots of work, and one has to live a rather sparse existence. I'm happy to do it, in fact I consider myself very lucky that I am able to do it. But I can only do it with your help. That's why this Pledge Drive is happening. This week, for one week only, you'll get a very short issue of Nygaard Notes every day, beseeching you to make a Pledge of support to this project. You're already a part of this, as you are already a reader. I'm asking you to become a supporting part of it. Become a Pledger. Thank you! Humbly yours, Nygaard
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OPTION #1: Nygaard Notes OR OPTION #2: 1. Go to the Nygaard Notes website at www.nygaardnotes.org That's all there is to it. Really. |
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Nygaard Notes started out as a newsletter. That newsletter is still the heart of the project, but there's much more to it now. In addition to Nygaard Notes itself, which goes out to roughly 1,200 people and the who-knows-how-many people they pass it along to, I also appear on local cable television every month to talk about media, and I pop up now and then on KFAI radio here in Minneapolis/St. Paul to talk about politics, ideology, media, or whatever the host asks me to talk about. I also receive invitations to address local groups, which I happily do. Feel free to invite me to address your group if you think it might be interesting. You may ask, "On what subjects do you speak, Nygaard?" And the answer is: Whatever subject you want, really. Because, while the specific topics about which I speak may vary, I'm really always talking about the same thing: How to deepen and broaden our understanding of the human condition, and how to overcome the barriers to understanding that get in our way. Lately I've been talking about Systalectics and how we (humans) think. But I talk about lots of other things, as well. Just ask me. I've come to call myself a Working-class Public Intellectual. I explained what I mean by that term back in Nygaard Notes #465 ("All of Us Are Intellectuals: Toward a Democratic Dynamic"). That piece, which was part of an earlier Pledge Drive, might be worth re-reading: http://www.nygaardnotes.org/issues/nn0465.html That's a very brief summary of the "extra" things that a Pledge to Nygaard Notes supports. But, as I said, the heart of it is the newsletter that you are reading right now. And what do people say about this newsletter you are reading right now? Well, recently they've said things like... "I like the writing style." "The way you are framing the change-making . . . calms, demystifies, and puts in perspective, how true it is that ONE doesn't cause the change." "This is a remarkable piece of investigative journalism and writing, Jeff." "I have been dying for good systemic analysis. Thank you so much!!" "I have heard you on KFAI and really appreciate your work." It's true, I do the writing, but without YOUR financial support I'd have to spend all my time doing other things in order to make money. YOU make this project possible, YOU keep it independent, YOU are a part of the movement toward a new journalism of democracy. Please consider making a Pledge today. Thanks. |
A Nygaard Notes Pledge Drive tradition is to list the names of all of you whose Pledges are now due (first names only), which enables you to see if you might be due for renewal of your Pledge. I know some of you have decided not to renew, and that's fine. BUT... if you have NOT decided to leave the fold, but instead have simply been procrastinating, or have forgotten, or for some inexplicable reason have just not gotten around to it, maybe seeing your name in the list below will get the process moving. If you do see your name here, please send in your Pledge NOW, and that way I'll be saved the time and expense of sending a renewal notice AND you won't have to get another piece of fundraising mail in your mailbox. If you made a Pledge and know you do NOT want to renew, let me know that and I'll refrain from reminding you. So, what follows is a list with the names of all of you who have made Pledges, but who have yet to renew for 2014. It's a long list, since so many people made a Pledge exactly one year ago, during the last Pledge Drive. Do you see yourself? If you think you do, get in touch and I'll tell you what your current Pledge amount is, and you can take it from there. I'll be sending a personal renewal notice after the Pledge Drive to anyone whose Pledge period is up but who hasn't contacted me. (So don't stress about missing anything...) Here are the people whose Pledge period expires this month: ★ Tim I normally send Pledge renewal notices in an envelope, via the U.S. Postal Service. As always, if you would prefer to receive your Pledge renewal notice via email, rather than in paper form, then you should send me an email, and ask to receive your renewal via return email. I'll send you the same letter, with the same information, but without the paper or the stamps. Then you can either send in your Pledge online, or use your own envelope to mail in your check. |
Pledge Drive Time is a good time to remind people of what you have gotten delivered to your inbox over the past year. As you've noticed, the average issue is now longer than it used to be (3,000 to 5,000 words, up from 2,000). I'm not sure why that is; I think I'm just going a little bit deeper. Or something. What follows below is a list of some of the things that readers seemed to particularly appreciate in these pages over the past year. * THROUGHOUT THE YEAR... I looked at systems several times, at length, in regard to all of the Big Themes that I consider to be the areas to which media should pay attention. In February... I ran a short series about the phenomenon known as "corruption." But I turned it on its head, noting that there are different kinds of corruption, and the lesser one often obscures the greater. In "Corruption, Language, and Systems Theory" I contrasted two different theories to explain it. The dominant explanation relies on what I call The Morality Theory, which tells us that our problems are caused by Evil People who want to dominate, people who think only of themselves, people who will stop at nothing to get their way. I proposed an alternative called The Investment Theory, which is based on a different Idea entirely, and is supported by a different Thought Style. The Idea is that we all are capable of behaving like the best among us—or the worst. We may act in one way or the other, depending on the nature of the context in which we find ourselves. The Thought Style that supports this Idea is Systems Thinking, which focuses neither on intentions nor causes, but rather on conditions and outcomes. For those who "think Systems," the idea is that corruption arises when conditions are right, regardless of the original intentions of the people involved. In March... I talked mostly about Ukraine, leading off with "Neocons, Europe, and the Geopolitics of Ukraine," then offering a "how-to" piece called "What to Do Before Reading the Front Pages (Ukraine Version)." In that piece I explained the following "four steps to take before looking at the headlines of the day: 1. Remember that corporate media generally responds to power, which breeds propaganda; 2. Try to get the Big Picture in your mind before getting the details about anything from anywhere. Out-of-context details lead us astray; 3. Practice Political Empathy as a way of fending off Evilization, and; 4. Seek out Alternative Points of View. It's not that these points of view have "the truth." They just give us alternatives to consider. Complexity is the enemy of propaganda." In April... I did a short, but important piece pointing to a significant victory for the great majority of USAmericans that has received almost no notice in the nation's media: The Death of the Grand Bargain. I reminded people that it was only last year that President Obama had been prepared to negotiate a so-called Grand Bargain with Congressional Republicans. The "bargain" was that Democrats would get to increase taxes on the rich in exchange for cuts in Social Security. But the 2015 budget submitted by the President this year omitted the whole idea of this barely-disguised benefit cut. That's a big victory, and readers of Nygaard Notes are among the few who noticed it. In May... I talked at length about the Federal Budget which, oddly enough, doesn't get talked about as much as an almost-four-trillion-dollar proposal deserves. You wouldn't think this would be very interesting, but in Nygaard Notes it is! In July... I continued on the theme of Systems, using the example of the horrible exploitation of workers in garment factories in Bangladesh to illustrate some of the major principles of a systems orientation. I focused on how different thought systems approach 1) Causation, and 2) Responsibility. Standard thinking looks for someone to blame when things go wrong. For systems thinkers, the issue of "blame" doesn't really come up, as we understand that a system will produce certain outcomes regardless of the intentions of the individuals in the system. And while standard thinking concerns itself with the intention of the actors involved, asking Why he or she did something, from a systems perspective the primary concern is not intention, but the outcomes and consequences of actions. This has far-reaching implications for how we solve problems. Late summer... brought us the massive Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip. In my essay "Covering Friends, Covering Enemies: Media Propaganda in Times of Conflict," I took the occasion to illustrate exactly how the media performs a propaganda function in the information system of the U.S. without even trying. I showed how the fact that media coverage so often conforms nicely to the needs of the State is not due simply to luck. Yet neither is it a conspiracy. How can this be? Go back and look at Nygaard Notes #558. As always, throughout the year I focused my coverage on the half-dozen or so Big Themes that I think merit our attention in this historical moment: Inequality and Resource Allocation; The Decline of the U.S. Empire; The State of U.S. Democracy; The Evolving State of Capitalism; Climate Change/Humans and the Environment, and; Social Health. If you are new to Nygaard Notes, you may wish to go to the website and pick up on some of the things you missed. If you've already read them all, I hope you will be reminded of how they affected your thinking and feeling. Then, once your memory has been jogged, I hope you'll decide that... YES! Now is the time to make a Pledge of support to this project. It's unique. It's thought-provoking. And it's fun to read. Pledge now! Thanks. |
