The two principal problems in the US today are Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats tend to be inept. The Republicans tend to be evil. Neither considers the needs of the nation as a whole but instead concentrate on the narrow vested interests of its affiliated group. As a result, the country is not only polarized, but also paralyzed. It is easy to blame President Trump for our problems, but Trump’s presidency is a result of—not the cause of—our problems. Our problems won’t disappear if we remove Trump from office; they would simply coalesce around whomever replaced Trump as president. The . . . → Read More: Two Serious Problems
|
||||
 Comments are closed  Blog  a house divided, Abraham Lincoln, Animal Farm, cancer, Democrats, evolution, French film, French revolution, George Orwell, good and evil, land owner, Middle Ages, peasants, pigs, political parties, Republicans, rich and poor, Ridicule, royalty, society, States, Stevie Wonder, wealth In the days of sailing vessels, there were two main problems: too much wind (see Typhoon) and not enough wind (doldrums). Sailors also speak of the quiet before the storm. That pre-storm quiet is a well-known warning of things to come. I suspect the metaphor also applies to political life: there’s a period of quiet before “all hell breaks loose.” Metaphorically speaking, the same concepts apply to political life, where we fluctuate between having too much going on or not enough happening. We seem to be in such a period now—not just in the States, but in many countries around . . . → Read More: Slow Start for the New Year Comments are closed Blog doldrums, Eisenhower, faculty, Fulfillingness First Finale, graduate school, impeachment, jungle boots, liberty and justice for all, military service, New Year, New Year's Day, Nixon, Oakland Army Base, political life, politics, progress, quiet before the storm, Republican Party, Republicans, Richard, sailing vessels, Stevie Wonder, University of Illinois, Vietnam Steven Pinker’s new book, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress is a beacon of hope in what I have been considering “dark times.” If you’ve been reading my blog awhile, you know that I haven’t been happy about Trump’s presidency. Pinker’s book has convinced me that there’s a lot more “ointment” than there is “fly.” Things in general will continue to get better in spite of Trump’s efforts to return us to the “dark ages.” Progress is not guaranteed, of course, but the long-term trend of history is increasing well-being for humans based on advances in . . . → Read More: Enlightenment Now Comments are closed Blog Big Enders, Buddhism, Catholics, chimpanzees, cultural differences, culture, dark ages, enlightenment, Enlightenment Now, Fisk University, fly in the ointment, gorillas, Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away, humanism, Imagine, Imprint Period, internecine, John Lennon, Jonathan Swift, Little Enders, Marian Fuson, Modeling Period, Morris Massey, Muslim Countries, Nashville, Nelson Fuson, Pinker, presidency, progress, Protestants, reason, science, Socialization Period, Steven Pinker, Stevie Wonder, Trump, well-being, What You Are Is Where You Were When |
||||