Category: Politics

The institutional practice of allocating power within a society, which generally includes the assignment and exercise of authority [legitimate power] by various means, including violence.

Public Renaissance: What Ebola, Ferguson, and Finance Can Tell Us

October 11, 2014

Public concern over the possible spread of the Ebola virus epidemic from West Africa to the U.S. is growing. While the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is taking various precautions, the situation is nevertheless of sufficient complexity to warrant concern. The outrage over the police killing of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown continues as a … More Public Renaissance: What Ebola, Ferguson, and Finance Can Tell Us

The Found Art of Self-Dealing and the Corruption of Everything

October 8, 2014

One of the effects of the penetration of money into every realm of life is the corruption of human values. The growing tolerance for, even blindness to, corruption in politics seems obvious. But it seems to pervade both everyday life and business as well. Corruption is not new. Neither are bribes, theft, or betrayal. Americans … More The Found Art of Self-Dealing and the Corruption of Everything

Republicans, Democrats, and the Climate Tipping Point

September 30, 2014

Talk of the so-called “political gridlock” in Washington has become so commonplace that it certainly qualifies as a full-fledged cliché. For too long, the three branches of the federal government have been pandering to the short-term economic interests of power elites. They have done little else. Yet they also work in high conflict with one … More Republicans, Democrats, and the Climate Tipping Point

Images of American Violence: What Sense Do They Make?

September 26, 2014

I watched the entire dash-cam video over and over again. The South Carolina State Trooper shot a young black man when he reached for his drivers license as directed. Many major news outlets played it. Maybe that is because it wasn’t a gruesome bloody scene and the victim fell beyond the dash-cam range upon being … More Images of American Violence: What Sense Do They Make?

The Dilemma of Transformation: From Petro-Economy to Eco-Society

September 19, 2014

What will it will take to reduce world carbon emissions enough in the short time necessary to fend off the worst of the effects of climate disruption? So much of the economy and energy technology is involved that it is hard to even imagine the magnitude of resulting social disruption. Yet here we are, faced … More The Dilemma of Transformation: From Petro-Economy to Eco-Society

Victims, Protesters, Bully Boys, and Looters: On Missing the Point

September 5, 2014

What is the point in viewing and attempting to understand the events in Ferguson, Missouri, over the past few weeks? Is it about: 1) another unjustified killing of a black youth by a police officer; 2) an unruly teenager whose behavior escalated a situation that led to his death; 3) a history of bad relations … More Victims, Protesters, Bully Boys, and Looters: On Missing the Point

State Secrecy: Collapse or Transformation

August 8, 2014

A number of books and articles have appeared over the past few years raising the specter of societal collapse. The crises of climate disruption and hyper-inequality in an increasingly unstable U.S. and global economy are converging toward destabilization. These converging destabilizing forces will likely produce some form of radical change –like it or not. But … More State Secrecy: Collapse or Transformation

Money Is Not Speech

August 4, 2014

What is money? What is speech? We take these concepts for granted and operate as if we know what they are, but do we, really? More importantly, does the Supreme Court understand the relationship between money and speech? Apparently not, or more likely, the Court is in denial about that relationship, for entirely political reasons. … More Money Is Not Speech