5/31/2022

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            I have the most excellent idea & I hope I’m not too late to share it. Perhaps someone in the WH already came up with it. In brief, have a trilateral meeting with NZ PM Jacinda Ardern (JKLA) & BTS in the oval office. Since you are hosting them today, albeit at different times, why not get them together?

Use this opportunity to find out more from BTS about their fanbase & what makes them tick. To get a quick intro into the concentrated fire power of this group, check out the 7/14/21 WP article, How K-Pop Conquered the Universe, which identifies K-pop fans as the biggest, most organized & fastest groups on the internet. JKLA can add her deep thinking about gun control & the need to fight radicalization on the internet. Together you can figure out how to marshal an army of enthusiastic folks to promote kindness & advance gun control legislation. K-pop fans are where it’s at!!!

K-pop fans in Burma are using their tech savvy to fight the junta. They use Telegram, an encrypted messaging app that allows them to avoid being discovered. Unfortunately, Telegram also serves as an alternative for extremists chased off more mainstream platforms such as Twitter, so the kind of transparency that JKLA is asking for could end up hurting pro-democracy activists. Please proceed with caution as you proceed in trying to manage disinformation.

            In her excellent Harvard Commencement speech last week, JKLA suggested that kids need to learn how to analyze & critique information, recognizing the limits of one fact. They need to realize that we always will be surrounded by bias. I would add that seeking primary sources is the best way to ensure that we are getting the whole story.

            Perhaps BTS can teach you & JKLA a dance which you can post to Tik Tok to show the world that you know how to have fun. That would make us all smile!!!

            BYBS,