General themes
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…
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…
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 can only see fragments of what is happening (that is a part of the human condition), but what I see is very discouraging. It seems that chaos and hatred are being magnified on many fronts. In other cases, I see a development of pinched souls in many friends and acquaintances. Chaos and hatred Humanity has long had mob violence as an aspect of mob psychology. This may have ancient roots far preceding our species (witness shark feeding frenzies, massed…
There are thousands of articles and books written about monopolies – almost all of them about private monopolies. Here I am going to consider state-owned monopolies as well as privately owned ones. As a matter of definition, when I say “state-owned”, I am referring to government ownership at any level (local through national government) and any legal structure. Similarly, when I say “private”, this is usually a corporation, but it includes all other legal structures as well. Natural Monopolies Many…
I understand that there is an election and that this pandemic has become, in some senses, more political than medical. That being said, we could be a little more realistic. Most of the evidence says that the USA has done neither remarkably badly nor remarkably well in the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. If we must compare ourselves with other countries, we should compare ourselves with non-autocratic countries with a reasonably well-developed economy (I eliminated countries with less than $10,000…
I and my family have had the unusual opportunity to live for a long period (nearly 36 years, we are not just tourists) in a socialist country. By this, I do not mean one of the socialist totalitarian countries (such as Cuba), but rather a democratic country with a more mixed economy. It is of a type which I think that most of our liberals have in mind when they endorse socialism (our radical left is a different thing). We…