How Memes Explain GOP Dysfunction

I'm amending my post based on results from the 2012 Presidential Election. Comments by GOP pundits speak directly to my comments below. Both Karl Rove and Charles Krauthammer exemplify the anti-rational memes I identify and discuss below. Krauthammer, in fact, argues the GOP platform needs no changes; the GOP simply couldn't motivate the proper personalities to communicate the Republican message. If the message is so complicated 9 candidates cannot communicate the "message," the problem might be the message.
My previous post, a book review of D. Deutsch's The Beginning of Infinity, left a cliffhanger, of sort. D. Deutsch spoke of static versus dynamic societies, specifically, static societies fail; dynamic societies endure, unless compromised or infected with non-rational memes. Then, demise of a society is a guaranteed surety. I dropped a parenthetical comment within my review indicating I would speak more on this topic later. This is later.
David Deutsch introduces a stunning array of ideas in a few short pages. He essentially breaks down culture and the transmission of cultural ideas and describes the bifurcation of a society’s choices into two paths. One path takes society down a static path, and essentially the end of that society. The other path takes society down a dynamic path, and persistence. Sounds a lot like Robert Frost, “the path not taken.”
My chosen theme for my writing is geography, the entire milieu of geography. When a quantum physicist wanders into the realm of culture and nation-building, my “geography-sense” begins to tingle. I have nigh-incomplete knowledge of quantum physics but I have a lesser amount of incomplete knowledge about geography. However, tying a few ideas from The Beginning of Infinity (TBOI) to geography should not be too difficult. What comes thereafter, might be.
The notion static societies and dynamic societies are part of the milieu of geography should not be too indulgent; this notion should be self-evident, actually. TBOI introduces a term which is not generally used in geography. The term is expressed more in sociology, or psychology, perhaps. However, TBOI introduces the term as a fundamental components of culture. The analysis of the term is used to examine the general success or failure of societies within a historical context. For instance, the failure of the Roman Empire, the failure of Nazism, the failure of the Soviet Union are all potentially explained by the function of a single term, and the terms components.

What is a meme?

Richard Dawkins, in his book The Selfish Gene (1976), posited the idea of a “meme.” A meme is a self-replicating idea (369). But not this simple, as a meme is a self-replicating idea within a culture much like a gene is a self-replicating set of biological instructions which communicates to cell how to develop. Memes carry cultural instructions which communicate and define individual’s behavior within a culture.

A meme is a self-replicating idea which carries the cultural instructions which communicate and define an individual’s behavior within a culture. Memes can mutate due to societal pressures, therefore memes evolve over time.

Thousands of memes can exist. Memes can arise and disappear within a person’s lifetime, or they can persist over generations. Memes can self-replicate with varying degrees of success. Some memes persist over time with considerable fidelity; they do not lose their message. Some memes adapt over time and evolve. The information content will change; did a new meme arise and replace the old meme? Or, is the meme simply a mutation?
Memes can be categorized as one of two types. “Rational” memes are based upon rational and critical thought (388). Being based upon rational and critical thought, rational memes are able to be accurately replicated. Rational memes evolve in the direction of real understanding and knowledge (389).
“Anti-rational” memes are founded upon non-rational thought or non-critical thought (388). Non-rational thought or non-critical thought is a means of saying the idea is not likely to be replicated with any degree of accuracy. An example of non-critical thought is the response to a question, “because I said so.” Another example includes memes which are based on religious ideologies, faith-based ideologies, or political-based ideologies. An example of such anti-rational memes would include the belief women are inferior or too delicate to vote or to become involved in politics, or the notion Blacks or people of color are inferior, or the notion the only true faith is Judaism. Anti-rational memes mutate away from developing better understanding and increased knowledge, and in doing so hinder or eliminate adaptations which encourage greater critical thinking.

Rational memes arise from critical thinking and encourage greater understanding through promoting more rational thought.
Anti-rational memes arise to hinder or prevent critical thinking and impair understanding and restrain knowledge.

Rational memes persist and are enjoyed throughout society and across time. Rational memes succeed in spite of debates and criticism because the memes themselves inspire debate and criticism, becoming better and accepted throughout society. The example set forth in TBOI are the Laws of Motion described by Isaac Newton. Newtonian physics not only is useful for construction, such as cathedrals and bridges, and useful for artillery (388). In other words, rational memes are useful across a broad spectrum of people and disciplines, are well-suited for being re-purposed, and foster more criticism and debate.

Anti-rational memes can persist and spread among people in the very same as rational memes. However, their effect is different. Anti-rational memes harm society (378). Anti-rational memes discourage criticism, debate, the pursuit of knowledge and deeper meaning. These effects may see mundane, yet the effects of those effects tend not to be mundane. Discouraging criticism and debate leads to the rise of police states, censorship of the media, detainment, loss of freedoms, imprisonment, or death. Russia has created a set of Internet censorship laws which greatly restricts access to the media, makes libel a criminal offense, and forces foreign news reporters to register as foreign agents (Atlantic, 3 Nov 2012). Fascism is another example of an anti-rational meme. Fascism is the unquestioning devotion to an ideology, typically a political ideology. Fascism is not limited to politics; the adherence to religious indoctrination in the face of contrary evidence is also a form of fascism. The United States is not immune to anti-rational memes. The Salem Witch trials springs to mind, the Red Scare & McCarthyism of the 1950s, and the "You Are Either With Us Or Against Us" domestic and foreign policy during the 2001-2008 Bush Administration are all forms of fascism, and anti-rational memes. The persecution of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks is an interesting circumstance. Yet, despite the controversy, I would argue this persecution is also an anti-rational meme because deeper truths are being hidden or concealed. This is precisely the nature of anti-rational memes.

The precise nature of anti-rational memes is to work against the revelation of knowledge, to blur or conceal the truth.

At this point I'm departing from my synopsis of memes, and discuss of rational and anti-rational memes. Rational memes are consistent with dynamic societies. Dynamic societies are not immune to the dangers of anti-rational memes. Within dynamic societies, both types of memes exist and are both exposed to the same sets of criticism. Anti-rational memes do not stand up to criticism, however, falter, fade away, and are replaced by rational memes. Even rational memes are under constant scrutiny and may be replaced by new memes or evolve into a new meme. Because of the continual improvement of rational memes in dynamic societies, the memes themselves become increasingly easier to replicate without loss of fidelity (388).

All meme forms and variants can exist within a dynamic society. Dynamic societies allow scrutiny and criticism of memes. Anti-rational memes will be identified as false, shallow, or useless. Rational memes will persist under critical observation and will be replicated accurately.

Static societies may have rational memes. However, due to the persistence of anti-rational memes, rational memes are disposed. Anti-rational memes can be as faithfully replicated as rational memes. For example, slavery in the United States was a persistent anti-rational meme based on several specious arguments. Generation after generation of people in the U.S. South were indoctrinated into the Slavery System. Most any attempt to argue against slavery, i.e. to criticize the meme, was immediately squelched. Static societies encourage the Status Quo, suppress criticism, and enforce invariant compliance of anti-rational memes (381). Laws are passed which encode the meme into the social fabric, such as the "Sundown Laws" which persisted in the United States well after Black Emancipation. Society may even foster and encourage the use of taboos to control behavior. Even within the allegedly "free and open" United States, some mixed race couples continue to find bias and discrimination.

Static societies are doomed to fail. Static societies impose rules, regulations, and restrictions which have the effect of ultimately shutting down human creativity. Human creativity is essential for meme evolution and transmission.

The society of the United States is generally associated with being a "dynamic" society. Many societies today are dynamic societies. All of Europe, India, the United States, Chile, Argentina, Canada, are all examples of "dynamic" societies. If you don't see your country mentioned, its probably still dynamic, I merely did not want to develop a comprehensive list. As long as a society is able to evolve to more rational ideas, i.e. rational memes, the society has a good chance of being a "dynamic" society.

Some societies I tend to think of as being dangerously close to becoming static societies. Russia comes to mind. The more restrictive the government becomes, the more speech and political expression is curtailed, the more likely Russia will become static. China falls into the same category for essentially the same reason. North Korea is a static society. Venezuela under the rule of Hugo Chavez, becomes more of a static society under his strict leadership. Any of the Middle Eastern countries, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the Maghreb countries, and many countries of sub-Saharan Africa have the potential of becoming static societies. Rules, laws, or taboos which restrictive the free movement of ideas, or limit certain populations are anti-rational memes. Limiting the role of women in business, industry, sports, or government are anti-rational memes. Discriminating against a population based on skin color or other physical traits is an anti-rational meme. The killing of albinos in Tanzania because they are seen as "ghost" people is an anti-rational meme. The notion in Malawi of having sex with a virgin girl as a cure for AIDS/HIV is an anti-rational meme.
In the United States, our political parties are susceptible to becoming victimized by the spread of anti-rational memes. The Democratic Party support of unions is an anti-rational meme which hinders business, disallows the movement of ineffective workers and their inherent inefficiencies, and prevents the replacement of outmoded business models with modern adaptations.
The Tea Party movement itself is based almost exclusively on a host of anti-rational memes, racism, Creationism, pro-Christian, pro-faith, and a return to the Gold Standard are simply a few anti-rational memes prevalent among the Tea Party.

Republicans, especially Conservative Republicans, have become significantly enamored by anti-rational memes. The "Patriot Act" provided unparalleled access to law enforcement for domestic surveillance. During the Bush Administration, citizens throughout the country found their "patriotism" challenged by simply criticizing White House policies. Members of the Senate Science and Technology Committee side with Creationists and other anti-science advocates against current research extending from the study of Cosmology, evolution, stem cell research, to climate change. Conservative Republicans, such as Donald Trump persist in perpetuating the Birther meme concerning President Obama's place of birth and his academic record. Other Conservative Republicans persist in associating environmental catastrophes like Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sally with God's wrath against the moral turpitude of homosexuality and abortion. The current political clarion among Republicans, "Take Back America" exemplifies yet another anti-rational meme. The United States has not been lost, has not been over-run or taken over. The government is not besieged. A coup d'etat has not supplanted any of our three government divisions.
Dynamic societies succeed by critical investigation of memes, by moot, and by using human creativity to expose, evaluate, and adapt memes. As memes are replicated, and evolve, individual memes may become static (383). Static memes are not necessarily bad. The idea of one-person, one-vote is a static meme which is important for governance which cannot really get more any more simple. Remember, the previous memes prevented women from voting, black males could cast a vote which counted as 1/2 the vote of a white male, and only white landowners could vote. Individual memes may become static. Danger arises when static memes become encoded with the law, or imposed by taboo, and society in its entirety is restricted from exercising creativity in advancing knowledge and gaining deeper understanding.

The two major parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, are catalysts for memes. Democrats, often referred to as "Liberals," are criticized for simply being that, liberal. Liberal carries many connotation; open, explorative, educated, flexible, wavering, and progressive are a few terms which come to mind. Republicans are often characterized as "Conservative," meaning resistant to change, parochial, narrow-minded, and traditional are a few terms which come to mind.

Both political parties are far from perfect. However, Republicans are dangerously close to becoming the bastion of anti-rational memes. Advocating increased levels of religious expression in schools disaffect members of a society which purports to be accepting is an anti-rational meme. Anti-science faith-based messages which articulate evolution and cosmological sciences as being straight from Hell is an anti-rational meme. Deprecating education at levels beyond high school is an anti-rational meme. Denouncing climate and atmospheric sciences is an anti-rational meme. Advocating the status quo upon reliance on fossil fuels and against alternative energies is an anti-rational meme. Denouncing the rights of gay and lesbian citizens based on religious intolerance is an anti-rational meme. Stripping rights away from individuals to exercise control over her own reproductive rights in an anti-rational meme. Restricting the use of embryonic stem cells on religious grounds is an anti-rational meme.

For Democracy to succeed, at least two parties of equal rational and critical thinking acumen are necessary. My criticism of the Republican party is levied mostly to vent frustration over the entire political process. In reading TBOI, particularly the portion regarding memes and culture, I was struck by the relevance of Deutsch's comments and their applicability to current societal and governmental concerns. Much of the vitriol of our current political climate arises from anti-rational memes, examples of which I have already mentioned. These anti-rational memes are associated with members of one political party, are encoded within that party's platform, in fact. That the GOP cannot mount a substantive and unified front to the Democrat Party can be tied directly to the anti-rational memes harbored by many Republicans. To provide a better leadership at local, state, and national level, GOP leaders need to scrutinized their platform, their ideals, eliminate those notions which are parochial, limiting, predicated on ignorance and non-critical thinking, and purge their party of members who support anti-rational, non-critical memes. Otherwise, the Republicans are dooming themselves to irrelevance, being diluted by more non-critical thinkers, and radicalists, eventually being replaced by a number of factions.

Source: Deutsch, David; The Beginning of Infinity; Penguin; 2011.

Confederate Flag as Conceit, not Hatred

In the United States a definitive symbol of our history of racial tyranny is the Confederate flag. Other than the white robes of the Klu Klux Klan, few other symbols of U.S. culture evoke the same depth of visceral response. Apropos both the robes and the Confederate flag should both share the same regional ancestry, i.e. Tennessee.

Personally, I have the same distaste for the Confederate flag as I have for the Nazi swatika. Both symbols have their places in history in each of their respective countries, though Nazism has spread its poisonous tentacles throughout more societies than the Confederacy could claim.

A group in my current state of residence has obtained a small parcel of land near Interstate I-24, has erected a 60ft (20m) flagpole, and is now flying a large 12ft (4m) x 18ft (6m) Confederate flag over the city of Paducah, Kentucky (photo) and in full view of all travelers of Interstate 24. The photo does not do the flag justice. Had I not been perturbed upon seeing the flag I might have pulled over to snap a photo. I still might go back and capture one.

I don't  like emotions getting the better of me. Seeing the flag upset me, true, but I consider myself an academic and as such cannot really allow the anathema I feel towards the flag to cloud my ability to contemplate the history and geography of the American South.

I'm not going to turn my post into a history lesson. Too many Civil War sites exist for people to peruse at their leisure for me to even attempt a summary here. My intent is only to draw out some historical and geographical details.

The Civil War began April 12, 1861. After fives days, 11 states had formed an alliance against the Union. Representing the Confederacy were 9 million people, almost half of which were slaves. Texas would join against the Union, an action which bewilders me at times. Only 15 years earlier, the Republic of Texas had voted for annexation  essentially to stave off continual Mexican militancy. Then, on April 17, 1861, only a teenager, Texas declares war on the United States. Kids rebelling against their parents.

On the other side, the Union would eventually comprise 21 states and over 20 million people. The Union also had the bulk of the transportation infrastructure, railroads and canals, the vast majority of the wealth, the educated, and the manufacturing centers.

In geography, we talk about regions. In particular, we discuss perceptual regions. Perceptual regions are regions we create based on our knowledge, facts, and feelings. If I were to have a class of 20 students shade a map of the United States according to those states which they identify as the "American South" I might end up with 20 different maps. Sure, some overlap will occur; Tennessee and Alabama will appear as a Southern State always. But, what about Kentucky? Or, Texas? Look at the maps below and see if they compare to your mental maps of the South.

[caption id="attachment_983" align="aligncenter" width="468"] The American South, as defined by the Bureau of the Census (2000)[/caption]

The Mason-Dixon line is clearly delineated. For those unfamiliar, the Mason-Dixon line is the line of survey determined by surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in order to settle a boundary dispute. The Mason-Dixon line has come to signify the cultural boundary between the American Northeast and the American South.

[caption id="attachment_992" align="aligncenter" width="438"] The Mason-Dixon Line separates four states, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_984" align="aligncenter" width="468"] The American "Deep South"[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_985" align="aligncenter" width="468"] Another perspective on the American Deep South[/caption]

The American South is also characterized by the self-identification of possessing strong spiritual values. To support the notion of people in the American South belief they possess strong spiritual values, I provide the map below.

[caption id="attachment_986" align="aligncenter" width="468"] The percent of people in each county professing adherence to the Baptist faith (2000)[/caption]

As the above map illustrates almost precisely, the Bible Belt overlaps very nicely onto a map of the American South. Apparent deviations in adherence should be noted along the Texas-Mexico border, south Florida, and an apparent weakening of faith in West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland. Must be the liberalizing influences of all those atheists living in close proximity of Washington, D.C. The other religion which is finding expression in the light areas in the South is probably Catholicism. Again, geography.

Many proponents of the Confederate flag state the following when asked why they fly the flag: "It's history, not hate." In all honesty, I have to admit the supporters of the Confederate flag are probably right.

Because I admit the supporters are right does not mean I condone their actions, nor support their actions, nor agree with all the Confederate flag has come to symbolize.

What I am saying is the Confederate flag is not about Hatred. Nope.

What the Confederate flag symbolized then and I would argue still symbolizes is racism and the belief of racial or cultural superiority of white people over people of color. Additionally, I cannot limit my definition to only people of color. Southern Whites also appeared to have little regard for the Irish or Scottish and I suspect they possessed some disdain for the Jew.

Racism cannot be equivocated with hatred. Racism does not say, "I hate you." Racism says, "I am better than you because I am White and you are not White."

See, I think the opponents of the Confederate flag are wrong if they think the Confederacy and the flag of the Confederacy was about hatred of blacks, Jews, Irish, or Scots. The Confederacy was not about hatred. A white living in the Confederacy at the time did not hate blacks any more than they would hate their bull, their dog, their tobacco or cotton crops or anything else for which they invested good money. Would you hate your Fidelity mutual fund or your Harley-Davidson motorcycle?

The Confederacy was predicated on the ideal, a Christian ideal, by the way, slavery and the subjugation of non-White, non-Christian entities was not only acceptable but Divinely Mandated. Why did I say "entities?" I hesitate to say "human beings" as ample evidence exists supporting the idea many whites, including Western Europeans, doubted blacks and people of other races were actually humans, not true God-fearing humans. With the strong belief blacks were a form of sub-human, southern Whites were able to concoct essentially a fantasy with the guiding principle of economic success through the subjugation of inferior sub-human races.

After all does not even the Christian Bible proclaim,

"Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. (1 Peter 2:18)

Southern Whites felt they were literally commissioned by God to own slaves. Truth be known, God was not advocating slavery but merely telling those who were slaves how to conduct themselves in the face of adversity.

I've been talking the presence of the flag up among the people I know. Everyone I've spoken to wants the flag down. To the progressive, reasonable, and rational folk among society, the flag is essentially the analog of flying the Nazi flag in Regensburg, Germany. Except no one will ever see a Nazi flag flying in Germany, nor any where else in Europe because civilized countries have made doing so illegal.

The Confederate flag symbolizes nothing positive from what I can gather. No one I've talked to can point to one positive attribute the flag or the Confederacy represents. I have not found a single logical, rational, or reasonable discussion on the Interweb detailing any positive characteristic of either the symbol or the subsumed state.

However, I can find copious arguments to the contrary, a litany of traits and characteristics which run the spectrum from "embarrassing" to "reprehensible" and ending with "criminal." Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate Lt. General and superior tactician, was accused of war crimes at the Battle of Fort Pillow, near Memphis, for which he earned the nickname "The Butcher of Fort Pillow." In all honesty both sides had their saints and sinners.

The Confederacy advocated a class structure based on gender and race. White men constituted the upper echelon of the economic structure. Women were not generally allowed to own property or vote. Blacks formed the basis of labor along with Irish and Scots. Education was allowed to a meager few.

Unlike legislation undertaken by our European counterparts to prohibit the display of Nazi memorabilia, I am not advocating any one do anything. I want our society to open, and for people to be able to express themselves. In part, I want the really ignorant people to expose themselves, to hear how ignorant they sound, and for the greater progressive society to train themselves, their children, and their children how to conduct themselves. I want the Progressive portion of society to engage their brains and the brains of their children to develop Critical Thinking skills which will ultimately prevail and undermine the Fallacies of the Ignorant.

As much as I loathe racists, bigots, and racist bigots, to restrict their voice means restricting all voices. Then, the argument becomes "who gets to choose what is offensive?" Encroaching upon the Nature of Offensiveness, the argument could easily mutate into "your religion is offensive" which potentially leads down a dark and ugly alley and why I posit all politics should be void of religious context and content. Ideally, I'd like everyone to engage in mutual respect, but I realize my ideal is far too naive.

To argue the flag is a symbol of rebelling against injustice is a delusion. So, yeah, I don't understand some peoples continued allegiance to the Confederate flag. But, the flag is not about hatred.

The flag is about false ego, narcissism, arrogance, and conceit.