Alexander Chalkidis

Tag: elections

  • Rigged elections, Open AI, the NBA finals and the next Google CEO

    Rigged elections, Open AI, the NBA finals and the next Google CEO

    Just switched off the first Mavs-Celtics game. Since the iconic rivalry of the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA Finals ratings have never recovered.  Strangely enough however the lowest TV rated series was the most interesting to me.  It was 2020, the year of “the bubble”, an innovative solution the NBA found to continue working despite restrictions.

    And it won Joe Biden the elections.

    At a time when we were all stuck at home watching Netflix they managed to produce top level basketball and a potent political message at the same time.  Every match was a black lives matter match, a platform for players to talk about the importance of voting.  Personally I truly believe it made the difference by getting especially black voters determined enough to overcome all of Trump’s hurdles in order to vote against him and swing the election.  It wasn’t easy post Obama to keep their support, especially in the COVID mess of disinformation.

    Lebron James is a divisive figure in the world of basketball.  Billed from a very young age as “the next Michael Jordan” he is in fact much much more than Jordan can even imagine.  (Yes, I have written about him before, here is a good summary of a lot of things I admire in him.)  Mostly because this athlete had the courage to stand up against an acting President.  He alienated half his fans forever.  But he was right.  And he didn’t win that ring “for Cleveland” like the last one he got.  He won it for social justice, so he could have a platform to make change.

    LBJ is what I call “a benevolent dictator”.

    This is a term I have often used to describe Google too.  I laughed out loudly when reading magazine titles about how “open AI is challenging Google in artificial intelligence”.  Nobody is even close.  Google, much like LeBron James, is several steps ahead of everyone.  Google makes assists to everyone for as long as possible and only hammers specific baskets in if and when necessary.    LeBron this season at age 39 single handedly outscored the entire much hyped Clippers team in the fourth quarter to come back from a 19 point deficit.  Google can do the same any day of the week to Open AI.

    With much power, comes much responsibility.  Blowing out opponents simply makes nobody watch the game. LBJs history, much like Google’s is a constant string of everyone doubting them.  You rarely see a LeBron James team blowout opponents. I have oftened wondered why I am awake at 4am (Greek time) watching him play. I now know and it is addictive, he is very cunningly making sure the end result, what you bought a ticket for, is worth watching. It is the exact opposite of watching Giannis play. But even an aging LeBron can turn games around when he really needs to, he controls the narrative.  He knows when the league isn’t going to give him MVP, he knows when the league needs a different team to get a championship. He adapts the story, sure. But the end result is always worth watching if you know what you are looking for.

    Sundar Pichai, if you ever need help, who you gonna call?

    PS Lebron it’s time you switched to a Google Pixel.

  • Surprise developments in the 2012 Greek elections

    I love political communication.   It appeals to the idealist in me.   The social engineering part of me thrives on twisting messages to fit into mediums that will best influence people.   And right now, Greece is the place to be.   The old media is crumbling.  Based on funding from business people that used television and newspapers to influence public spending (ie get the tenders for big projects through blackmail!) the whole model crashed.   Social media rides in and …everyone is confused!   An ex US ambassador to Greece does a great summary of what led us here on his Facebook page.  (In English, the original is here.)

    So in order to get involved with a political party, first I had to pick one that is actually not corrupt.   Athena Drakou explains it all (in English) here from that perspective in this excellent introductory article of hers.   And then, a few weeks before the elections, we have to take a party that 99% of Greece hadn’t even heard about a month ago and get it into Parliament.   With zero budget!

    As we look at highly dubious poll results and await the exit polls, there is a major upturn in Greek politics.   A. Apostolakis – eshop.gr founder and entrepreneur does it here .  A.Doxiadis – famous author and mathematician does it here . G.Tziralis – the Greek start up man does it here. N.Moraitakis does it here. 53 other Greeks from abroad do it here.  What we have is a pandemic of famous and important Greeks who have never before stated their political affiliations publically doing it now.   Why?

    Sure it is an amazing bunch of people.  Within the party and around it, most major Greek intellectuals have gone public in support of “Drasi“ or Stefanos Manos personally.   It was part of our strategy (for lack of budget) but it has spiralled almost like a viral social media campaign.   Sure the party is on very solid ground through wise long term planning.   It is a loosely knit group of very clever people, each somehow pulling in the same direction without the need for a big central structure.

    In the last week before elections we have witnessed a unique development as one after another, major public figures from business and culture take a stance in support of “Drasi”, either through online articles (mainly online, as the party is shut out of most media).  Even vocal supporters from “the Left” and a communist party figurehead have decided that something important needs to change in Greece.  Until now everyone kept there political affiliations a secret for fear of losing a job, a deal or a position in the civil service.   Now they are publically supporting this party for fear of there being no jobs left to get!

    But ultimately, especially for a region like Greece which resembles a volcano ready to erupt, good communications will be the deciding factor.   Especially if (when) the May elections do not produce a useful government, there will be 11 million even more disappointed Greeks to kick into action.

    (Full disclosure: I am in charge of the social media campaigning of “Drassi”.  For more information visit www.drassi.gr or – in English the links provided above.  For the latest guesstimates on possible outcomes you will be really hard pressed to find any authoritative account – I have put a summary  of polls here.)