Benjamin Franklin is often given credit for the saying, “Honesty is the best policy,” but the saying is actually older than Ben. The original language was, “Our grosse conceipts, who think honestie the best policie,” and the originator of that phrase was an English politician named Sir Edwin Sandys. I suspect, however, that the actual origins are even older than that, as the desire and need for honesty in relationships are as old as humanity. It has long been believed that the Devil (Satan) is the Father of lies, and it’s easy to see why that’s so. No one likes . . . → Read More: Honesty Really Is the Best Policy
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 Comments are closed  Blog  1968, Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, coal, communist, deceive, Democrats, fooling people, honesty, hydro-electric, intimidation, lesser of two evils, Lord Acton, oil, policy, politicians, politics, Republicans, Robert Burns, Robert Ringer, solar, tangled web, technology, the Fugs, two steps forward, vested interests, War in Vietnam, wind, winning It’s no longer a matter of living in interesting times. Democracy in the US has always been on a roller coaster. We got started on a big hill by men (women only in the background at that point) who were flawed giants. Their principal flaw was owning slaves, In their defense, we can say that slavery was common at that time, and it hadn’t yet occurred to many that slavery was (and is) an evil institution. The country has had a variety of ups and downs since its founding, we’ve had numerous wars, including the military actions required to complete . . . → Read More: Bad to Worse Comments are closed Blog African-Americans, Carter, China, Civil Rights, Clinton, democracy, economic decline, economy, Eisenhower, George Bush, GOP, Great Depression, Great Recession, greed, Harley Davidson, honesty, housing, industrial base, Interesting Times, Interstate Highway System, laves, mobsters, Native Americans, Nixon, North Korea, Pogo, political decline, presidents, Reagan, Republican, rich get richer, robber barons, Russia, slavery, tariffs, Trump, Vietnam War, War in Southeast Asia, women, WWII Back in 1994, Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray wrote a book, The Bell Curve, pointing out an inconvenient truth: half the population has below average intelligence. While much of what they said was considered controversial for a variety of reasons, the basic concept is incontrovertible. Half the population is below average when it comes to intelligence. George Carlin said, “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that. In and of itself, that isn’t a major problem, as intelligence does not account for the main differences in human behavior. It . . . → Read More: The Bell Curve Comments are closed Blog agnosticism, behavioral psychologists, bell curve, blood and soil, Bob Dylan, Charles Murray behavior, Charlottesville, corruption, drug costs, ethnicity, European descent, George Carlin, George Harrison, hippies, homeless, honesty, human intelligence, Humira, hunting, intelligence, Malcolm Gladwell, mass shootings, Masters of War, militia, morality, National Rifle Association, NRA, Peace and Love, politicians, power, power corrupts, religion, Richard J. Herrnstein, Second Amendment, self-defense, Steven Pinker, The Tipping Point, tipping point, Tom Lehrer |
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