War has played a major role in human history, whether war is raging or not. During peace-time the military prepares for war, while society absorbs the cost. Some theories consider war to be an integral part of the essence of humankind while others consider war to be the result of specific economic or ecological conditions. […]
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Who are the Poor?
The US poverty rate when first measured in 1959 was 22.4%. The rate declined during the 1960s. Since then, however, poverty has consistently been between 10% and 15%. The most recent official poverty measure estimates that 11.4% of the US population, 37.2 million people, were poor in 2020. In 2018, poverty in the US was set […]
Read MoreInnocent, But Convicted
More innocent peopleare jailed than ever before. Exonerations are up exposing a justice system that doesn’t provide justice for the poor. The statistics of who gets convicted while innocent show stark differences by race. Children and people with mental disabilities are also treated unfairly. Why? There are several reasons. Here are important ones: Poverty and […]
Read MoreEight Billion People
Needing Clothes, Food and Shelter The UN projects that the world population will reach eight billion by November 15 this year and ten Billion by 2060! Of course, projections are based on assumptions that may be wrong. Replacement level fertility rate is 2.1 children per woman. At this rate, population is at stasis from generation […]
Read MoreRussia’s Hobbesian Bargain
Thomas Hobbes declared in 1651, in Leviathan, that without a social contract in which everyone gains security in return for subjecting themselves to an absolute authority, a “state of nature” will prevail. Life becomes “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” when individuals are bound only by their personal power and conscience. Unlimited “natural” freedoms include […]
Read MoreWhy Join a Political Party?
An independent can be defined as someone who votes for candidates on issues rather than on the basis of a political ideology or partisanship. Let’s think for ourselves. Why rely on a political party with its lobbyists selecting a position on a list of issues from healthcare, military spending, gun control, income gap, or climate change? What if […]
Read MoreSanctions: Blunderbuss Diplomacy
Sanctions are penalties applied to countries, organizations and individuals because of economic, political, military and social disagreements. Sanctions typically include trade barriers, tariffs and/or restricted access to money and are administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an agency of the US Treasury Department. The effectiveness of sanctions is debatable: In a report […]
Read MoreThe Selfish Model for Progress
It appears to be impossible to accomplish what we need with our current hope-throttling congressional partisanship. Maybe we need to look at the real costs to society of holding back investment in the people, us? Real Embedded Costs: A current federal minimum wage of $7.25: In July 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the […]
Read MoreThe Cost of Progress?
Obviously the planet is choking! Unfortunately human behavior demonstrates that altruism and fairness are not always baked in. Too often we see the Tragedy of the Commons. Pollution is a great 21st century example: certain stock holders get rich while passing the cost on to the rest of us. CAFO’s (Concentrated animal feeding operations) as […]
Read MoreCritical Theory vs Discrimination
Garden Variety Casual observation of human nature reveals individuals in any crowd with prejudices. In some cases, these attitudes are benign (which car brand is best) and in others not so much. There will always be someone who disagrees with your heartfelt beliefs. In our current evolutionary state as sapiens, prejudice and discrimination occur in […]
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