Current politics
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…
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…
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…
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…