海角大神

2020
January
30
Thursday

Monitor Daily Podcast

January 30, 2020
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Mark Trumbull
Staff writer

Welcome to your Daily. Today鈥檚 articles explore a controversy over who gets to tell stories, the 鈥淭rump effect鈥 in Iowa, color-coding聽the Hong Kong protests, the forces behind one locality鈥檚 economic revival, and how a space telescope changed human perspectives.

When I heard about an important new book by journalist Ezra Klein, 鈥淲hy We鈥檙e Polarized,鈥澛爀xploring the roots of America鈥檚 partisan climate, my thought turned unexpectedly to Aristotle.

Among other things, the Greek philosopher linked ethics to moderation. He defined core virtues in terms of finding a mean between the extremes.

Aristotle鈥檚 thought isn鈥檛 the finale of ethics. He supported the slavery of his day, for one thing. But that ideal of temperate thinking may have more-than-passing relevance in the age of political rifts that Mr. Klein documents, where compromise and centrism can seem missing in action.

Yoni Appelbaum, a senior editor at The Atlantic, recently of history worth noting. First, recent research finds a correlation in Europe between stable democracies and the health of the moderate right. A strong center-right party, it seems, is a bulwark against authoritarianism.

Second he finds examples that show political parties can move away from extremes. A century ago, it was Democrats turning from nativism toward greater inclusion.

For Mr. Klein, one path toward depolarization lies in . 鈥淭his is not a hypothetical,鈥 he writes. 鈥淭he聽country鈥檚 most popular governors are Charlie Baker in Massachusetts聽and Larry Hogan in Maryland.鈥 They are moderate Republicans who are governing in Democrat-dominated states, with majority support.

Moderation . But it may need some TLC.


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Today’s stories

And why we wrote them

A deeper look

How can fiction best engender empathy? Underneath the firestorm of controversy surrounding Jeanine Cummins鈥 鈥淎merican Dirt鈥 are questions vital to storytelling.

The 2020 Iowa caucuses are, in theory, all about Democrats weighing their own flock of candidates. Yet tonight President Trump is in the state, and that speaks to larger questions about 鈥渙xygen鈥 in today鈥檚 politics.

Kelly Chiu
Hong Kong restaurateur Tim Law stands before the "Lennon Wall" of pro-democracy messages he's allowed supporters to erect on the walls of his restaurant Little Vegas. His establishment has been identified as "yellow."

It鈥檚 not news that some Hong Kongers are deeply divided over the protests. But the 鈥測ellow economy鈥 movement that sprung up this fall highlights how those divides are reshaping relationships, far away from the front lines.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff
Eric and Casey Clark sit at the Perked Up Cafe in Charleroi, Pa., Jan. 21, 2020. They opened the cafe three years ago to help revitalize their hometown, which is seeing glimmers of economic recovery.

How can small towns recover from widespread economic downturns? New industries help, but so do intangibles like charm, faith, and spirit 鈥 in ample supply, our reporter found, in the mid Mon Valley.

NASA
This Spitzer image shows the giant star Zeta Ophiuchi and the bow shock, or shock wave, in front of it. Visible only in infrared light, the bow shock is created by winds that flow from the star, making ripples in the surrounding dust.

One of the marvels of space exploration is that it forces people to think beyond what聽they can observe themselves. The Spitzer Space Telescope enabled astronomers to literally see beyond the visible.


The Monitor's View

Reuters
German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks to an employee at a Daimler battery factory in Kamenz, Germany.

After nearly a half-century of close ties to the Continent, Britain leaves the European Union on Friday night. This historic divorce has forced leaders on both sides to focus on how to reduce the potential upheaval, especially to their economies. Not surprisingly, each is now proposing ways to better tap the creative talents of their people. The divorce has actually spurred a competition to boost ingenuity in scientific research and, ultimately, economic productivity.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled a plan to turn the United Kingdom into 鈥渁 global science superpower,鈥 free of the EU regulations that he claims have stifled investment in risky technologies. He is offering an unlimited number of visas to the 鈥渨orld鈥檚 most talented minds鈥 and hopes 鈥渢o turn their ideas into reality.鈥 He wants to spend nearly $400 million in mathematical sciences for 鈥渆xperimental and imaginative鈥 research.

His goal is to put innovation at the heart of Britain鈥檚 economic regeneration, relying first on 鈥渦nlocking the potential鈥 of its people to create new technologies. To do that, he plans to double public spending on research and development over five years.

At the same, the EU expects to unveil a new 鈥渋ndustrial strategy鈥 by March, in part to recover from Brexit but also to better compete with tech giants from the United States and China. To stir creative research, the plan focuses on a goal of making Europe carbon neutral by 2050.

European companies already hold 40% of the world鈥檚 renewable-technology patents. The EU expects to invest in several other technologies, such as supercomputers and hydrogen energy, in order to produce 鈥渄isruptive research and breakthrough innovations,鈥 says the new president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

鈥淓urope has all the scientists and all the industrial capabilities it needs to be competitive in these areas,鈥 she says. 鈥淟et鈥檚 not talk ourselves down. Innovation needs brains. But it also needs diversity. It needs space to think.鈥

Britain and the EU differ in their approaches to nurturing new technologies. Yet they are hardly divorced in one respect: They both see an unlimited resource in scientific imagination. They want to push beyond material constraints and the boundaries of human thought. Under their plans, ideas are seen as universally available. At the level of seeking progress for their people, their parting could bring them together.


A 海角大神 Science Perspective

About this feature

Each weekday, the Monitor includes one clearly labeled religious article offering spiritual insight on contemporary issues, including the news. The publication 鈥 in its various forms 鈥 is produced for anyone who cares about the progress of the human endeavor around the world and seeks news reported with compassion, intelligence, and an essentially constructive lens. For many, that caring has religious roots. For many, it does not. The Monitor has always embraced both audiences. The Monitor is owned by a church 鈥 The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston 鈥 whose founder was concerned with both the state of the world and the quality of available news.

Seeing the cynicism about the pursuit of truth that the U.S. Senate impeachment trial has prompted on both sides, one woman reflects on a lesson she has learned in her own life: A willingness to let go of personal agendas and instead seek God鈥檚 truth opens the door to what needs to be understood.


A message of love

Manish Swarup/AP
Children watch as Indian women hold hands to form a human chain at Jama Masjid in protest against a new citizenship law that excludes Muslims, in New Delhi, Jan. 30, 2020. Nearly 1,000 protesters, including a large number of women carrying Gandhi鈥檚 portraits, assembled at the 17th-century Jama Masjid. They sang India鈥檚 national anthem after they were prevented by the police from marching to nearby Gandhi鈥檚 mausoleum.
( The illustrations in today’s Monitor Daily are by Jacob Turcotte. )

A look ahead

That鈥檚 your Daily. See you again tomorrow when our stories will include a look at a 鈥渂iological robot,鈥 which raises the question: What makes something qualify as alive?

More issues

2020
January
30
Thursday

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