Tag: politics

The Science and Politics of Medical Treatments in a Pandemic Emergency.

April 13, 2020

Sadly, the science of epidemiology is about as well understood as science itself. In the case of the current COVID-19 pandemic, many are grasping at straws to find comfort in some quick “cure” or other. Unfortunately, life is not that simple. Science and Medical Treatment Scientists estimate the efficacy of a drug based on the … More The Science and Politics of Medical Treatments in a Pandemic Emergency.

Dangerous Transitions in the New Great Transformation

May 3, 2017

Humanity is entering a New Great Transformation like no other. This transformation is not the first, but it may be the last. That will depend on human action and whether we act quickly, both globally and locally. Perhaps the first great transformation was the discovery and control of fire, according to renowned biological anthropologist, Richard … More Dangerous Transitions in the New Great Transformation

Dumbing Down America Degrades the Nation and More

September 20, 2016

An article in Psychology Today, posted by Ray Williams on July 7, 2014, delineated a long list of indicators of the decline and fall of culture and education in the U.S. in recent decades. Diverse measures of that decline led the author to conclude that, as I would rather put it, “American Exceptionalism” is in fact a … More Dumbing Down America Degrades the Nation and More

Individual Climate Ethics and Social Action

February 24, 2016

Climate action: can we do it ourselves? If we recycle everything we can, take shorter showers, and install some solar panels, will that prevent the looming climate chaos? We could buy an electric car and low-emissions consumer products, maybe even go “off the grid.” But would that be enough to avoid climate catastrophe? Sorry. Absolutely … More Individual Climate Ethics and Social Action

Errors, Mistakes, and Stupidity: Why Magical Thinking Can Be Deadly

February 8, 2014

We humans are both rational and emotional beings.  The mix between the two can produce some strange and amusing results.  Conventional economics assumes that all human behavior is rational in the sense that everyone chooses only actions that serve their best economic interests and the result is the best overall outcome for everyone.  Yet all … More Errors, Mistakes, and Stupidity: Why Magical Thinking Can Be Deadly

The Great Jobs Myth and the Transformation of the Growth Economy, Part I

January 30, 2014

A lot of congressional politicians and media pundits of both Republican and Democratic persuasion are jabbering these days about “job creation.”  The 2014 mid-term elections are fast approaching and nobody wants to be caught looking indifferent to the lack of jobs for an increasingly large numbers of Americans. Their approaches are different, of course.  The … More The Great Jobs Myth and the Transformation of the Growth Economy, Part I

“A Revolution of Values” is What It Will Take to Humanize the Coming Great Transformation

January 26, 2014

Martin Luther King referred several times to the need for “a revolution of values,” in his speech, “Beyond Viet Nam,” April 4th, 1967, at Riverside Church in New York, a year before he was assassinated,.  I listened again as it was replayed on Martin Luther King Day, 2014, forty-seven years later. That speech had been … More “A Revolution of Values” is What It Will Take to Humanize the Coming Great Transformation

What It Will Take: Living in a World We Made But Never Expected to See, Part II

January 16, 2014

The reality we face in the coming decades involves three integrated crises: 1) the consolidation of the corporate state driven by the debt-based endless corporate-growth economy, which increasingly damages populations by isolating them from economic resources and destroys the environment we all need, in service to short-term profit and political power; 2) accelerating resource depletion … More What It Will Take: Living in a World We Made But Never Expected to See, Part II

Individualism and Its Discontents

November 30, 2013

Why Our Culture Keeps Us from the Pursuit of Happiness Individualism may be the most entrenched and pervasive icon of American civilization.  After all, personal liberty was one of the founding principles of the republic formed in rebellion against the oppressive rule of the British monarchy and its economic elite.  Rarely mentioned, however, is the … More Individualism and Its Discontents