Today, the adjectives “conservative” and “liberal” imply an identity group. However, at one time, the term “conservative” implied following authority, applying principles presumed to be tried-and-true. The term “liberal” implied questioning and testing. Continue reading
Blog Posts and Writings Tagged: Society
Blog 135. American Angst Part 3 of 7: Engineered Inequality
America has greater inequality than any other advanced country.[1]
Among the advanced countries of the world, America has the greatest wealth, but also the greatest inequality in wealth. The U.S. ranks 27th out of 27 high-income countries in median wealth per adult. The top 1% took home 22% of all income in 2015. Continue reading
Blog 134. American Angst Part 2 of 7: Alienation of the Individual
Individuals feel angry, frustrated, isolated, abandoned by their society, offended by immigrants, and threatened by political ideologues who want to take over. The stores are big-box: you don’t buy your shoes or your shampoo with assistance from a friendly sales person. Your only safe conversation seems to be with Siri on your cell phone. Continue reading
Blog 133. American Angst Part 1 of 7: State of the Nation
America exhibits a widespread anxiety, uneasiness, dread, fear, insecurity, foreboding—or even rebellion—against some poorly defined process. Whatever it is, Americans fear it is taking over. Continue reading
Blog 128. The death-denying celebration
By one account,* Halloween originated in the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sowan, rhymes with cow-an), which marked the end of the harvest season. Costumes provided protection from imagined spirits that came back to life. Continue reading
Blog 122. What’s driving us crazy?
I hear folks complain that the overload of information and change is driving us crazy. A phone call used to be a rare interruption. Now, even robo calls “reach out and touch someone.” Continue reading
Blog 121. How old is a fossil?
A Harvard authority explains that cockroaches have been around for three hundred million years. Those bugs will probably still be around cleaning up the mess long after we humans have put ourselves out of existence. Continue reading
Blog 108. Can a system have integrity?
The notion of integrity—being what you say you are—remained unwritten but implicit in a recent magazine column* entitled “Issue of the week: Too wealthy to pay taxes?” Continue reading