Matters in society that constitute problems for the stable operation of social institutions or populations and/or are recognized by significant groups as indicating the need for change in some parameter of social structure or process.
Photo Credit: Werner Ustorf via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0) Race has always been an ambiguous concept. Racial identity is held to desperately by the socially insecure and the psychologically anxious, who turn their ignorance and confusion into fear, which then becomes hate. Then there are those who consciously exploit the fears and confusion of others to encourage … More The Ridiculous Race
Political power disintegrates when the people withdraw their obedience and support. ~ Gene Sharp The Musk’s hyper-tech-bro ruffians storm-trooping through the federal government has moved as fast as phantom fairy dust from the Wicked Witch of the West. The initial response of widespread protest has moved fast too, but not nearly fast enough to have … More It’s Only the Beginning: Tyranny and Resistance
What will it take to cause “shock and awe” over increasingly frequent and devastating catastrophic climate events? Consider this context: “The average temperature in 2024 was 1.6C above preindustrial levels, data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) shows.” (see story in The Guardian, 1/10/2025.) Climate science predicts the devastating consequences clearly. Even so, LA burning becomes … More Charade: As Cities Burn, Perverse Politics Prevail
I suppose it is not reasonable to speculate on the limits of human creativity. But one thing is certain. We all have an initial capacity for creative expression, if only in one way and not another. For some, it is crushed by their earliest experiences of life-conditions that I would not wish on anyone. For … More Living the Good Life, Somewhere
The other day, the grandson of dear friends was gunned down, murdered in a drive by shooting in Albuquerque. He was a vibrant nineteen year old reaching out to a life to be led. Yesterday, another dear friend mentioned the continuing grief of the death of her twenty-something son by a hit and run driver … More Suffering and Death Do Not Become You.
War is expensive, in human life, environmental degradation, and in its destruction of human values. Nevertheless, most nations do not hesitate to spend what they believe is necessary to either defend their territory or conquer that of another nation. In every case, ‘the other’ is defined as less than human. Costa Rica is the exception; … More Strategy and Tactics, Blood and Brutality
I must admit, I was almost as perplexed as the Democrats who were trying to decide whether to support Joe Biden despite the debate disaster or to urge him to step aside for a younger candidate to defeat the would-be dictator. After the debate, Joe seemed more his normal self, gaffs and all; he gave … More Just a Regular Guy
It never ceases to amaze me. I have known for at least a couple of decades how deranged the narcissistic sociopath could be, in public so often, no less. I was no fan of ‘The Apprentice,’ or its competitive nastiness. But plenty of public performances and journalistic reports made it clear that no amount of … More I Love My Black Job Too!
I must admit, I was almost as perplexed as the Democrat Party operatives were in struggling over whether they should continue supporting Joe Biden despite the debate disaster or to urge him to step aside for a younger candidate to defeat the would-be dictator—then Joe did what now seems to have been inevitable. Since the … More It’s Time for the Dem’s to Get Tough, and to Strategize
I sat spellbound the other night listening to Karim A.A. Khan, the Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal court, as he explained to Christiane Amanpour why he sought arrest warrants from the court for the leadership of both Israel and Hamas. His public announcement had listed the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by … More The Rational Man in a World of Hate
Robert MacNeil Christie, Author 