What we’re about
This is a group for those in the Sacramento area who like to discuss politics and philosophy. We have all had different experiences in life, but we always find that political issues are very relevant to our lives and we want to discuss these issues with others. These days, political discussions are sometimes constructive, but unfortunately they often become hostile when people with differing views are in the same room. It is important for us all to hear views other than our own from time to time, and there has to be a way to have honest, thoughtful discussions on issues important to our lives while keeping the discussion calm and polite. In this discussion group, we try to avoid being overly biased when presenting opinions and we will also work to avoid use of fallacies in making points. We expect that there will be differences of opinion, but as long as we keep a philosophical mindset these discussions should not descend into hostility. Many of us also like to discuss philosophical topics and we will have time for this as well and we will probably find that most philosophical concepts have real-world applications, including political. So this discussion group will hover between these two subjects, and we might even at times focus on other subjects as well.
Upcoming events (4)
See all- Failing Beings? The Inner Development Goals Might Help!Shine Cafe, Sacramento, CA
This event is cross-listed from the Sacramento Inner Development Group. Come discuss how we create solutions to the Climate Crisis. The attached paper is about Climate Literacy and uses a framework provided by the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) which is a rapidly growing global movement. You can learn more about the IDGs here but no need to use that link, yet, unless you are dying to know. Let’s put this Meetup into context first.
The introduction to the paper begins with “Given the urgency and all-encompassing nature of climate change, every person, community, and organization must eventually participate in a response. The primary challenge is no longer to develop new technologies or policy ideas. It is rather a challenge of collaboration and implementation at an unprecedented rate, scale and depth.”
Jonathan Rowson supposes that perhaps it is as the German Philosopher Thomas Metzinger says, that the climate crisis is “Conceived of as an intellectual challenge for humankind, the increasing threat arising from self-induced global warming clearly seems to exceed the present cognitive and emotional abilities of our species. This is the first truly global crisis, experienced by all human beings at the same time and in a single media space, and as we watch it unfold, it will also gradually change our image of ourselves, the conception humankind has of itself as a whole. I predict that during the next decades, we will increasingly experience ourselves as failing beings.” Are we really failing beings?
Rowson posits that there is hope in Metzinger’s assessment that our species has a present level of “cognitive and emotional abilities?” This implies that our abilities can grow - and so enter the IDGs (Inner Development Goals).
As Jonathan Rowson puts it in his Linkedin article, “We know, as well as we know anything, that human beings can learn and grow and change for the better. This is the premise of the IDGs, and this is why they are asked to speak at the White House in the context of Climate Week. In many ways, the IDGs are absolutely the right idea and the right movement at the right time…
And yet! Are the IDGs sufficiently challenging to incumbent power? How can we avoid losing years we don’t have to lose, in inner work that risks being merely socially performative, rather than figuring out what kinds of inner work might be spiritually, culturally, politically and economically transformative?”
- Borges on Surreal IdeationKupros Crafthouse, Sacramento, CA
Imagine that you are in a dream where, dreaming, you wake up and go to this event, and that you then wake up and find yourself there. Are you then there, or are you still dreaming? Will any of us be there, or will this be a consensual dream? Wake up! Go, come! We will all be scattered to the wind before your next chance to get your Borges on - watch reality bend in the cursive flow of a few well tuned words - part the veil, witness the fires of creation.
Nobel Laureate Jorge Luis Borges: thought provoking with philosophical and mathematical allusions, Borges adopts an esoteric, antiquarian tone to discuss infinity, causality, chance, memory, reality, and endless other topics more suitably found in a philosophy class. Endless forms most beautiful.
Here is a PDF collection of all of his works:
Jorge Borges Complete WorksRead at least any two of the following short stories:
The Lottery in Babylon
Author of the Quixote
The Circular Ruins
The Library of Babel
Garden of the Forking Paths
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius - Timothy Snyder on TyrannyKupros Crafthouse, Sacramento, CA
Timothy Snyder, an American historian specializing in the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and the Holocaust, wrote a short book, "On Tyranny", about 100 pages long. Snyder lists 20 signposts indicating when things political are going off the rails, into authoritarianism, and his historically informed suggestions to preserve our democratic forms and institutions. It is well focused to give an overview without being pedantic. Let's read through that list together and discuss the items that interest us
Here is a series of short videos by the author covering the book:
Timothy Snyder On TyrannyHere is an expert on authoritarianism breaking down Project 2025:
Ruth Ben-Ghiat on Project 2025
(I would like a better video from Ben-Ghiat here. Suggestions?)Some of the precepts:
- Do not obey in advance.
- Defend institutions.
- Beware the one-party state.
- Take responsibility for the face of the world.
- Remember professional ethics.
- Be wary of paramilitaries.
- Be reflective if you must be armed.
- Stand out.
- Be kind to our language.
- Believe in truth.
- (Not provided in the search results)
- Make eye contact and small talk.
- Be calm when the unthinkable arrives.
- Be a patriot.
- Be as courageous as you can.
