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Can't the chairs of state start acting like CEOs of their countries rather than like royals who need to fly 200 people just to have a chat? They can talk on zoo
by cblconfederate 6y ago
Can't the chairs of state start acting like CEOs of their countries rather than like royals who need to fly 200 people just to have a chat? They can talk on zoom, all we need to know is "chairman of india spoke to chairman of uk and the following things changed:"
- axiosgunnar 6y agoWhat makes you think they don‘t? Actual physical visits are to eg finalze deals, when high-bandwidth communication is necessary. And by high-bandwidth I mean body language, spontaneous n-to-n conversations between all participants, etc.
- cblconfederate 6y agoi don't think decisions that affect millions should be based on body language
- bongoman37 6y agoWhat should they be based on? Its kind of stupid to ask people to behave like Spock like value maximizing machines.
- drdeadringer 6y agoWhile I see your point, I find commuting umpteen hours for a 5 minute conversation that could have been over the phone, over email, or over zoom-skype-jitsi rather soul-sucking. And Spock did have emotions.
- cblconfederate 6y ago> like value maximizing machines. thats the job of a head of state
- ben_w 6y agoMore like the Tal Shiar, if we’re using Trek references — politicians don’t try to deny emotions.
- cblconfederate 6y agothey should, it's just a job, not their personal drama
- ben_w 6y agoEveryone’s personal drama is their job, to some extent or another. You don’t get to run a country unless you can get people emotionally invested in you doing so, because if the electorate — be it the whole nation in a democracy or the aristocrats in a monarchy — is not into you, they’ll pick someone else instead of you.
- cblconfederate 6y agothe issue with democracy is that, because it relies on popularity, it selects for self-absorbed sociopaths. Being one is essential for getting elected but a nightmare after election
- ben_w 6y agoYou may find this worth your time: https://youtu.be/rStL7niR7gs https://youtu.be/rStL7niR7gs
- cblconfederate 6y agowe dont call heads of government rulers anymore, and being ruled is not something we aspire to
- ben_w 6y agoGiven the man’s well documented history of pathological dishonesty [0], I suspect that body language is how he was elected. [0] e.g. https://youtu.be/ZVOV3sU8Ays https://youtu.be/ZVOV3sU8Ays
- jen20 6y agoIt’s somewhat crazy that I can’t tell without clicking whether this is about Modi or Johnson.
- ben_w 6y agoInteresting. FWIW, Modi doesn’t have that kind of reputation in the sections of the UK news that I follow.
- skinnymuch 6y agoYes I assumed you meant Modi as well. Regardless of how I feel about both of them. It could happen any time two “populist” leaders are brought up that way.
- Nextgrid 6y agoEspecially considering international travel is still banned by law for any non-essential purposes, and I can't see how a meeting that could be trivially done on Zoom would be classified as essential.
- lotsofpulp 6y agoIn person conversations are to preserve plausible deniability, presuming they are not being recorded. I am only going to say things I want a transcript of over electronic mediums. CEOs do the same thing, and it is partly why being located in certain dense cities is so valuable.