Politics on Setu's (micro)blog

The Three Languages of Politics by Arnold Kling

Mon, 29 Mar 2021 23:41:37 -0800

Now that I think about it, it is not at all surprising that I picked up and read this book.

I have been intrigued by language (so much so that getting machines to understand language is my day job!) for as long as I can remember.
Observations that change how I see the world intrigue me.
How people perceive, understand, decipher and involve themselves in politics has fascinated me over the years. (Go read any of my posts from yesteryears.)
For the last few years, the breakdown of communication between myself and my family and friends who hold contradictory political ideologies has bothered me.

‘The Three Languages of Politics’ is a short book that I got through in under 2 hours. However, it is an insightful book. Within the first few pages, Arnold King introduces a rather simple framework for interpreting any political argument around you, and boiling it down to a probable set of bases that the person making it is coming from.

What Narendra Modi Should Fix

Tue, 01 Oct 2019 20:21:39 -0700

A few days ago I posed a question to Twitter asking people what their tipping point for supporting Modi was? To put it in a different way, if you support Modi today (and / or have for the last 5+ years), what is the one thing, that if he does it, would make you cease supporting him.

It is not a very difficult question (but it can be). If you are someone that does support someone, anyone, something, I think this is a question you should ask yourself. I often ask the same of myself, and it helps me in understanding why I prefer something or someone over the other.

India & Politics

Sun, 25 Mar 2018 14:53:32 -0500

Indian politics is one of the most complicated and divided in the world, and it is amplified by the diversity of the country. I came across this forum discussion about why self-driving cars remain and will probably remain a dream in India for the foreseeable future, while the developed world inches towards policies and laws governing such vehicles. Much of the blame with a lot of India’s problems starts with the polity, but fairly trickle down to the people who put them in power.