It is probably impossible to write anything original on this long-term conflict, but I will make a few short remarks. Both sides are in the habit of claiming historical rights to the land of Israel / Palestine and both are right, but of course, they chose different historical periods to base their claims on. Both sides now have millions of people who are native born. There is no way that the maximal claims of either can be fulfilled without either…
It can be fun. Children do it often. Let’s pretend to be doctors and nurses. You get to be our patients. These games can become rather elaborate, with costumes and various props. It is (usually) harmless and educational – a trying out of potential roles. Very rarely these games turn dangerous. Perhaps some of mother’s pills are found and prescribed to a patient. Perhaps an operation is attempted. These have real consequences – life altering or ending consequences. Consequences Should…
Early in Biden’s presidency, we read about him becoming a second FDR. This was largely about the ambitious program to change much of America’s domestic economy and government. Political realities made this an illusion (for better or worse – I will not go into that now). Now he has a second chance to become an FDR. In the long period where England (or rather the British Empire) faced the power of Germany (and Italy) alone, the US, under FDR’s leadership,…
Right now, much of our energy seems to be going towards blaming someone (take your pick: Biden, Trump, Bush, etc.) for the current Afghanistan debacle. What we really should be doing (and I am sure that there are people quietly doing this) is figuring out why we, the country known as America, have been in these long, drawn-out wars since the middle of the 1950’s (think Vietnam, Iraq and now Afghanistan). I know that there have been some successes (e.g.,…
Everyone is writing about Afghanistan now. I do not have any special expertise in the situation there, but it is now obvious that much of what we (the US and other allied nations) thought we had accomplished there was a mirage. The main question for us now is why did the experts seemingly buy into believing in this mirage for so long? An important subsidiary question is what kind of structural changes do we need to make to prevent this…
I said in a previous essay, our nation has accumulated a debt and: “We need to feel our way towards ensuring that most of us have a chance to receive a good education and good jobs.” I have been challenged to provide ideas towards doing just that. Education One of the first rules of problem solving is the ancient “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” For at least the last 55 years we have failed in providing…
The universe and everything in it are staggeringly complex. This complexity is somewhat displayed in the range of scientific specialization; no one person can possibly master what is known about anything but a small part. And, if they are honest, they will quickly acknowledge that the mysteries within their specialty are vastly larger than what is known; that is what draws good scientists to investigate further and farther. A simple sketch – stone If you are walking along a beach…
Culture is humanity’s secret weapon*. It allows us to develop and retain adaptations many magnitudes quicker than genetic evolution. It has allowed us to survive and even prosper in nearly every land environment on the earth. Cultures change, they are changing all the time. However, possibly excepting catastrophic events, deep changes require more than a single lifetime. I just used the word “culture” in the singular, but in reality, any larger collection of people has a multitude of cultures with…
Abraham Lincoln, in the midst of the Civil War, in his second inaugural address, wrote: Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said “the judgments of the Lord are true…
I first made this proposal 4 years ago. The following has been slightly updated due to the current situation. The Situation Since we are in a year with a presidential election, the subject of eliminating the Electoral College has become prominent again. While this may be psychologically satisfying to many, it is extremely unlikely to ever gain enough traction to change the US Constitution, the requirements for an amendment are such that it is unlikely that ¾ of the States…