# Seriously, though, what if the Other Side REALLY IS dumb-

*Hello friends! If my numbers are true, you likely you signed up for
this newsletter after reading something I wrote on Medium. I send this
thing every few months, mostly a wrap-up of stuff I'm working on and the
best reading from around the web—all ending with a sweet flag. See past
issues
[here](http://tinyletter.com/blanda/archive?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).
Now, to the newsletter:*\
![A Japanese Lake](../images/43ae07115f53.jpg)*Over the New Year I was
lucky enough to visit Japan. Here is Sagiike Pond in Nara Park, home to
the world famous bowing dear and giant Buddha statue. Interested in the
history of Japan? [This 9-minute totally bizarre YouTube video is pretty
great](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh5LY4Mz15o&utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).*\
\
***Personal Updates:***\
\
**According to Medium, one million people (!) have read my piece "[The
Other Side is Not
Dumb](https://medium.com/@SeanBlanda/the-other-side-is-not-dumb-2670c1294063?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is#.mneg72t8n)"**
which is about respecting the other side. I received two main
criticisms: "What if the Other Side REALLY IS dumb?" and "Sometimes the
Other Side wants to take away your rights." Both reasonable responses
and both, ironically, made by all sides of the political spectrum. Quick
response: This is really about where is "the line" where we can stop
taking the Other Side seriously. I reason that the "line" should be
further off than most people think (i.e. "I can't take him seriously
because he's voting for Hillary!" is laziness). \
\
*Recommended: Someone sent
me [/r/NeutralPolitics/](https://www.reddit.com/r/NeutralPolitics/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is)
and I've found it a great subreddit for tracking and understanding
current events. A good first read is
[here](https://www.reddit.com/r/NeutralPolitics/comments/41ag5c/meta_with_policy_issues_on_which_youre_not/cz4amxg?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is):
each person's view really breaks down to a series of smaller beliefs
that must be addressed first.*\
\
**My latest for 99U**: One person can lay you off, fire you, or downsize
your job. But [no one person can take your
audience](http://99u.com/articles/52687/the-most-defensible-thing-you-can-do-for-your-career-build-an-audience?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).
The best job insurance for anyone in creative / knowledge worker fields
is to build a group of people who are familiar with your process and
thinking. AKA, an audience. \
\
**Did you graduate school and realize you weren't truly prepared for
the "real world"?** [I'd love to hear what you think in this
4-minute survey](https://seanblanda.typeform.com/to/Iyw1xz?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is)
I put together for a future project I'm working on. \
\
**My big work project:** [we announced the 99U Conference
speakers](http://conference.99u.com?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).
I'm super proud of this lineup. More to come.\
\
***To the links!***\
\
**It seems like everyone is starting an email newsletter or a podcast**
(says the guy with an email newsletter that [aspires to start a
podcast](https://twitter.com/SeanBlanda/status/694982729465593856?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is)).
Seems like a good business to be in, but does it actually pay? Want to
join me down the email newsletter rabbit hole? Paul Jarvis, freelancer
and 99U contributor, [breaks down the numbers and work behind his Sunday
Dispatches](https://pjrvs.com/a/dispatches/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).
[Stratechery](https://stratechery.com/membership/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is) and
[Above
Avalon](http://www.aboveavalon.com/membership/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is)
have some of the only (from what I can tell) successful paid email
subscriptions. Otherwise the internet seems to be a graveyard of paid
email newsletters with good intentions. However, building an email
mailing list is the best way to eventually sell another product. That
product, can't be the newsletter itself. The next time you hear from me,
I'll show you the new 99U.com we've been working on where we're banking
heavily on driving newsletter signups.\
\
**When everyone has an outlet, we have more content than we have
readers**. A book publisher once told me "everyone wants to write a
book, no one wants to read one." It's the age of abundance, [where the
curator influencer is
king](http://redef.com/original/age-of-abundance-how-the-content-explosion-will-invert-the-media-industry?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).
My prediction, we'll see a rise of small highly targeted outlets that
offer helpful content to a specific audience while curating other
tangental content. Example: [My Little
Paris](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pamela-poole/my-little-paris-startup_b_1691412.html?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).\
\
*Related: I recently discovered [Asymmetrical
Publishing](http://asymmetrical.co/about/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is),
a book publisher for this age of abundance.*\
\
**Editorial nerd alert**: The Toast went deep into the workflows and
[decision making behind its new
redesign](http://responsivewebdesign.com/toast/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).
2,000 words on taxonomy? Sign me up! \
\
**Ever look at an old electoral map and get confused?** "What, Democrats
used to control the south? What happened?!" Turns out the U.S. [has been
through several "party
systems"](http://spot.colorado.edu/~mcguire/partysys.html?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is)—where
the coillitions of the parties have completely shifted. Any some think
that, after New Hampshire's primary, we're entering a "[Sixth Party
System](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixth_Party_System?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is)."\
\
**Confession time: do you really know what it means to be
"neo-liberal"?** I sure didn't fully understand, but [this is the best
explainer](http://www.globalissues.org/article/39/a-primer-on-neoliberalism?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).
Also: The ideological range of U.S. national politics is actually quite
narrow. Check the great charts.\
\
**Those who deny the science of climate change are often
maligned,** [but liberals have their fair share of science
denial](http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/12/when-liberals-attack-social-science.html?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).
Related: [the case for gender NOT as
spectrum](http://rebeccarc.com/2016/01/06/gender-is-not-a-binary/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is). \
\
**Scandinavian politics corner pt. II:** A pet issue of mine is pointing
out that life in Scandinavia isn't all sunshine and roses. The case for
Scandinavia is made in this essay from *The Nation*: "[After I Lived in
Norway, America Felt Backward. Here’s
Why](http://www.thenation.com/article/after-i-lived-in-norway-america-felt-backward-heres-why/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is)."
Choice quote, "I returned to the United States. It felt quite a lot like
stepping back into that other violent, impoverished world." Yeesh, this
is infuriating. [Violent crime is at an all-time
low](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laurenbrooke-eisen/americas-faulty-perceptio_b_6878520.html?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).
Medium household income [is pretty close to those
"ideal" countries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_household_income?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).
To say nothing of the fact that the United States is a diverse,
pluralistic nation with many races, religions, and belief systems all
coexisting as one, while Scandinavia is has the same population as
Minnesota and is racially homogeneous. To its credit, Norway [is getting
more
diverse](https://www.ssb.no/en/befolkning/artikler-og-publikasjoner/large-diversity-in-little-norway?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is)
via immigration ... which is leading to [the rise of the
anti-immigration political
parties](http://bostonreview.net/world/sindre-bangstad-norway-populist-right?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is). But
sure, whatever. Move to Norway. .\
\
**There are more talks and essays than ever about creativity and
innovation**. [So why isn't there more creativity and
innovation](http://www.salon.com/2013/10/13/ted_talks_are_lying_to_you/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is)? \
\
**The fallout from the pickup artist culture is real**. Take the example
of Jared Rutledge, whose online postings about women [cost him nearly
everything](http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/01/jared-rutledge-pickup-artist-c-v-r.html?mid=twitter_cut&utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is). Neil
Strauss, the author that popularized the culture in his book "The Game"
[ended up entering rehab for sex addiction and is now happily
married](http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/oct/10/neil-strauss-the-game-book-truth?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).\
\
**A paradox:** when white people profess to having white privilege, [is
that as self-serving as the privilege
itself](https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/01/28/when-white-people-admit-white-privilege-theyre-really-just-congratulating-themselves/?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is)?\
\
***Official Newsletter Flag (for now)***\
\
![Russian Flag](../images/ddd70a62717d.png)\
Above is the flag of Russia, but it wasn't always so simple. Apparently,
the modern day Russian flag was actually the brainchild of Peter the
Great who wanted Russia's flag to have a bit more of a European flavor
to it. Funny how times change! This flag was in use from 1700 – 1918 and
then again after the fall of the Soviet Union and [is often mistaken for
the Dutch
flag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Netherlands?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is).\
\
Flag side note, which flag has the cooler eagle,
[Mexico](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Flag_of_Mexico.svg/2000px-Flag_of_Mexico.svg.png?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is)
or
[Poland](http://www.fashionablecanes.com/mm5/graphics/im/3613ba.jpg?utm_source=Blanda&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=seriously-though-what-if-the-other-side-really-is)? My
vote is Poland, but I can't deny the cool factor of our southern
neighbors. \
\
—\
\
Dear reader, your cool factor is off the charts. Thanks to allowing some
space for this newsletter in your crowded inbox.\
\
--Sean