Between Hell and High Water

AI’s Practical Concerns-Part Two

By Mike Koetting August 19, 2025

Today’s blog is the second of two posts about AI. It’s not about whether AI is good or bad for society. That’s a worthwhile discussion and I expect it to remain a hot topic for the foreseeable future. These posts, however, are based on the observable reality that, like it or not, it’s coming.

These posts focus on some practical questions about its arrival. Part One looked at some of the economic impacts; today’s post considers environmental issues and questions of security and reliability.

The Practical Implications of AI – Part One

By Mike Koetting August 5, 2025

Today’s blog is the first of two posts about AI. It’s not about whether AI is good or bad for society. That’s a worthwhile discussion and the answers likely to be endlessly debated. But these posts assume that, like it or not, it’s coming. (Whether it lasts or not is a different matter, but we’ll get to that later.)

The point of these posts is to ask some practical questions about its arrival.

Risk #1: Blowing up the Economy

Why Do We Tolerate the Crypto Scam?

By Mike Koetting

Republicans in Congress declared the week of July 14 as “Crypto Week” with the intent of passing three bills on crypto currencies as part of a push to boost and legitimize the U.S. cryptocurrency industry by giving it a regulatory framework that’s lighter than what traditional financial assets and institutions face but at the same time creates an aurora of legitimacy. All three of these bills passed. One, the so-called GENIUS Act, had already been passed by the Senate—with 18 Democratic votes– and Trump has signed it into law. The other two also passed, but face an uncertain future in the Senate. Not surprisingly, the value of existing cryptocurrency soared with the attention. Bitcoin, the best known cryptocurrency, hit an all-time high.

The details of these bills aren’t anywhere near as important as the fact that crypto is being treated seriously. There is no compelling reason for cryptocurrencies and profound reasons why they should simply be ignored. Or banned if ignoring them turns out to leave too many risky possibilities in play.

Being an American Right Now

By Mike Koetting July 8, 2025

Another Fourth of July rolled around and there was new grist for the perennial question of how I feel about being an American.

Being an American is, foremost, a legal definition laying out certain rights and responsibilities. Becoming an American was easy for me: I was born here. And since, at least so far, I haven’t wanted to leave, I am still an American. Of course, the legal fact doesn’t shed light on how I feel about this.

At one level, how I feel about being an American is kind of an unconscious, automatic response to being part of a group, a community larger than me. I always cheer for American teams to win in the Olympics. There are also certain patriotic tropes and evocations that never fail to move me. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural address, for example. Or Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.” I suspect this deep-seated sense of “home” will stay with me no matter what.

But these group instincts are nowhere near as important as the more analytical view of what I believe America stands for and how that is being realized, or not, at the moment.

Are Our Responses Matching the Risks?

By Mike Koetting June 24, 2025

Our country is drifting toward an authoritarian state. This is a fact, not a matter of opinion. One might argue about the speed of the drift or, in theory, even whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing. But one can’t really argue in good faith about the direction.

I am guessing most of the readers of this blog are troubled by this. The question that I can’t get out of my head is how should I feelabout it. And, then, what should I do about it. Asking these questions raises a lot of philosophical questions about what does the abstraction of democracy or, even, of country, mean, none of which have simple answers.

But it seems to me that there are fundamental reasons to believe that democracy is superior to authoritarianism, so much so, I would submit that standing up for it is a moral imperative.

Republican Organization Is (Mostly) an Illusion

By Mike Koetting June 10, 2025

How many times have you heard someone say: “Democrats need to get organized like Republicans.” I don’t have any problem with the idea of getting organized. What I find problematic is the idea that the Republicans have some magic template. For the most part, they are as disorganized as Democrats. They have simply hitched their wagons to one of the world’s most accomplished grifters and let him drag them wherever he wants to go. This simplifies organization enormously. To be sure, Trump has accommodated them by making various nods in the directions of long-time Republican goals. But it is erratic, inconsistent, and can be seen as part of an organized plan only through a peculiar lens. See below about Project 2025.

Democrats Real Problem Is a Lack of Options

By Mike Koetting May 27, 2025

I am increasingly skeptical that characterizations of the Democrats as chronically disorganized are useful. Democrats probably are disorganized. But all political parties are…and the more democratic they are, the more that is the case.

No doubt, mistakes were made in the last election. The biggest one was when Biden insisted on running. Maybe you could blame that on the Party. But just ask the (former) Republican establishment how easy is it is control someone who had structural momentum. And, although a year or so later one can spin all kinds of counter-historical scenarios, at the time there were compelling reasons not to pursue various alternatives.

Post-election, options are even more limited. The other party controls the national government and Democrats have no leverage. Republicans would prefer to toss over all reason (not to mention the Constitution) rather than strike any kind of compromise.

How Many Deaths for Congressional Republicans?

By Mike Koetting May 13, 2025

In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare writes: “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.”

Republicans in Congress are today playing out their own version. By failing to take on any of the winnable small battles, they are slipping toward a situation where the entire foundation of the country could be up for grabs. Most Congressional Republicans understand that Donald Trump is playing fast and loose with the separation of powers—and in the process taking away Congressional power.

Inequality Is Giving Money to Rich People

Mike Koetting April 22, 2025

Many Americans are white-hot angry at their situation in life. More and more families are having a difficult time making ends meet. The sense that they are no longer fully participating in the promised life can be found everywhere. Two-thirds of middle-class families say they are struggling financially.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that many families are feeling short-changed since the richest Americans are increasing their share of wealth at the expense of everyone else. This is primarily a result of deliberate policy decisions. The surprise is that so many of the people feeling short-changed voted for an agenda promising more of the same.

In 2023, the total share of income earned by the bottom 90% of workers was less than 50%. In other words, the bottom 90% altogether made less than the top 10%. There is nothing inevitable about such a distribution. Most countries with American standards of living have more equal income distributions. In fact, America used to have a more equal distribution.

Economic Issues by Themselves Will Not Change Democratic Fortunes

By Mike Koetting March 25, 2025

Sociologist Arlie Hochschild, in her recent book, Stolen Pride, observes that in addition to a material economy there is a “pride economy.” I think recent Democratic losses have as much to do with shortages in that economy as with problems in the material economy. It’s not something voters talk about, so it the poll-centric mainstream media misses it. But I submit it is at the heart of why people vote for a person who is a known liar and is unlikely to actually deliver economic improvement for most of his voters. One way or another, he assuages the loss of self-worth that has afflicted a large swath of the population. This is certainly related to the material economy, but is in fact a different dimension and it is losses in that dimension that have made the road so difficult for Democrats.

To be fair, managing what has happened in the pride economy would have been a difficult, maybe even impossible, task for Democrats.

For openers, Democrats became the party of the oppressed as Republicans settled into the party of “let’s keep everything the way it is,” or, better yet, the way it was 50 years ago. From the Sixties on, the Democrats championed changes in society that were necessary to allow more individuals to be more self-actualizing. These changes, appropriate as they were, created major perturbations in the pride economy. Being right is no guarantee you won’t offend people who feel their status has been eroded.