Establishment-critical narrative

Tech giants seeking to cash in on the AI gold rush is a worrying trend. Microsoft's multibillion-dollar investment signals that users are at a disadvantage if they're not using AI. While ChatGPT certainly acts as a powerful demonstration of what AI can do today, if artificial intelligence begins doing the creative jobs of human beings, it could render millions of jobs useless.

Pro-establishment narrative

AI tools will boost human productivity, increasing economic growth and the wages for minimum-wage jobs. Many software developers and companies leverage AI-based technologies to boost employee productivity, unlock efficiencies, and increase job satisfaction. Instead of betting against AI technology in fear that it will steal their jobs, businesses and employees must embrace the technology to ensure they remain effective and competitive in their respective fields.

Establishment-critical narrative

The deteriorating security crisis in West Africa is primarily the result of the West's decade-long political and military interference under the guise of fighting terrorism. There is hope for the region only when it's no longer possible for the West to pursue its geopolitical interests unchallenged by pretending to "help" in the Sahel.

Pro-establishment narrative

Though Western powers can be criticized for their colonial record in West Africa, local authorities must stop blaming the West for today's crises. National leaders must focus on tackling the jihadist insurgency rather than simply use it to justify their undemocratic rule. As Russian actors step up in the region to partner with military juntas, their counterterrorism efforts have proven just as unsuccessful.

Establishment-critical narrative

It would be unacceptable for Ankara to give Sweden the thumbs up to its NATO membership while Stockholm allows terrorist sympathizers to spout anti-Islam hate speech and blatantly carry out provocations against Turkey and Muslims. Turkey has already made its terms for supporting Swedish entry into the alliance clear, so the nation must decide whether joining the bloc in opposition to Russian aggression is more important than supporting terrorists and Islamophobes.

Pro-establishment narrative

While the burning of a copy of the Quran is obviously a grossly disrespectful act against Islam, it is not illegal under Swedish law which values freedom of expression as a fundamental part of democracy. If Turkey bases its decision over Sweden's NATO bid on this disgusting but unrepresentative incident, it will be doing exactly what the minority responsible wanted and giving in to Islamophobic hate.

Nerd narrative

There's a 75% chance that Sweden will join NATO before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Establishment-critical narrative

The fact that South Africa maintains and expands its relations with international pariahs such as Russia for nostalgic and ideological reasons could cost the country dearly since it cannot be assumed that the West will continue to stand idly by. The stakes are high — much of South Africa's investment and trade are with the West and its military equipment is sourced from there. If South Africa does not change its course and continues to try to play both sides, it risks ending up as a pariah itself.

Pro-establishment narrative

In criticizing South Africa for its ties with Moscow, the West is once again applying double standards. This is also true of the naval drills with Russia and China, which in no way mean that Pretoria is abandoning its neutral stance amid the Ukraine war. Moreover, it is hypocritical to criticize the drills but remain silent when Washington demonstrates military power at will. As a sovereign country, South Africa is no longer willing to bow to Western definitions of right and wrong.

Narrative A

Ukraine has a history of corruption, evident in the fact that it came 122 out of 180 countries in Transparency International's 2021 rankings of corrupt states. However, the European Union has emphasized that cleaning up corruption is a key stipulation if Ukraine wants to join the bloc. Zelenskyy is taking effective action to meet that demand, with a view to fostering closer ties with the rest of Europe and protecting Ukraine's political and military security.

Narrative B

Kyiv has been keen to show the European Union that it's been rooting out corruption in the country. However, today's developments will strike severe blows to Ukraine's reputation among EU officials. The perception of Kyiv's commitment to the application process, along with those of Ukraine's overall EU aspirations in general, have been damaged by these reports.

Nerd narrative

There is a 1% chance that Ukraine will join the European Union before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Republican narrative

The irony here is incredible. McGonigal — one of the men in charge of designing the "Russia Collusion" theory against former Pres. Trump — has now been accused of having done the exact thing he falsely claimed Trump did. This illustrates how far the rot has spread among the FBI.

Democratic narrative

One rogue agent shouldn’t tarnish all the hard work the rest of the Bureau does on a daily basis. The American people can rest assured the FBI is committed to sticking to its processes and dispersing justice equally. The charges against McGonigal are proof that no one is above the law.

Narrative C

While these are serious allegations, the trial is in its infancy, and the media needs to be careful not to jump to conclusions. The justice system should be left to render a verdict without interference, and until then, McGonigal should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Establishment-critical narrative

France is not doing enough to repatriate its citizens languishing in refugee camps in Syria. France is violating the UN Convention Against Torture by refusing to help these women and children suffering from violence and poverty. By being deliberately slow in repatriating its citizens, Paris is condemning thousands of children to a life of trauma and violence, which will only deepen their extremist beliefs.

Pro-establishment narrative

The repatriated families of IS fighters pose both a physical and ideological threat to the nations they are returned to. While children can be rehabilitated, the women who intentionally brought or raised families in the Islamic State should be held accountable for their actions by their nations of origin and charged with terrorism or other related offenses. While repatriation should happen, this shouldn't be done hastily.

Establishment-critical narrative

Though Google will point to recent economic slumps and downsizing as proof of innocence, the company's monopolistic practices began over a decade ago. Google eliminates competition through acquisitions and subsequently forces advertisers to pay more creators to make less, all while boosting its profits year over year. The government has ignored this growing monopoly for years and should finally break its stranglehold on the digital ad market.

Pro-establishment narrative

While prosecutors may be able to point to certain questionable business practices used by Google, trying to break the company up through anti-trust legislation is a dead end. It will be almost impossible to prove a monopoly, similar to what happened to Microsoft years ago when the DOJ sued them for anti-trust violations. The government should demand changes to particular business practices rather than trying to take down the world's most popular search engine.

Democratic narrative

COVID caused a historic upheaval of the US economy, and something needed to be done to support Americans who lost work. The states and Congress did what they could to prevent fraud, but obviously it was a momentous task. The government has learned how to deal with a situation that will hopefully not come up again.

Republican narrative

Paying people to stay home was always bad policy, but the Democrats couldn’t see past the opportunity they had to buy Americans' votes. Now the US will be bearing the costs of all the fraud for decades to come.

Republican narrative

Unlike President Biden who is under investigation for mishandling classified documents from his tenure as vice president, Mike Pence has been transparent in how he has dealt with returning classified material. Joe Biden is intent on hiding information from the American people while Pence looks to quickly remedy any potential error in his handling of materials from his vice presidency.

Democratic narrative

Despite emphatically declaring that he did not possess any classified materials, Mike Pence is now backtracking and handing in materials that he claimed not to possess. Pence sees the severe consequences of mishandling classified documents, but now there must be an investigation into the reason he possessed them in the first place. This appears to be a large issue dating to the Trump administration.