Donald Trump is no hero. He is extraordinarily lucky, apparently staying alive by an only few millimeters. Today, he lucked out again when Judge Cannon dismissed his case on technical grounds, claiming that the Special Prosecutor was improperly appointed. Clarence Thomas got his way after all and must be laughing all the way to one of his wealthy friend’s exclusive retreats. I am no political pundit, but my guess is that these events will increase the likelihood that he will prevail in an election against Joe Biden. Certainly can’t hurt. If the need to run an alternate to Biden has… Read More
Continue ReadingMore Poetry
I can’t escape, but can reflect. Election Day Fears (A Villanelle) The evening news is full of doom and gloom. Our country may be coming to an end. Each founding father bestirs in his tomb. It doesn’t help to sit around and fume And get disturbed by the latest trend. The evening news is full of doom and gloom. My rising angst pervades the living room As I think what does that report portend? Each founding father bestirs in his tomb. A new forecast shows up. My spirits bloom, But I need be careful and not pretend. The evening news… Read More
Continue ReadingWhy was “God” invented
Still batting zero in getting my opeds published. I thought this one was pretty timely. Even if the title seems nonsensical or blasphemous, it is a valid question. Whether or not “God” exists, some human being invented the word, “god,” or its equivalent in other languages. I can think of a few ways that this happened. One is as a neologism to explain something that was inexplicable, but important enough to require naming. I suspect this is how it happened because we know that early cultures showed signs of something we would call “god” or “gods.” Many natural phenomena would… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Criticality of Critical Thinking
Tried to get this published also. Those who would ban critical thinking in any form are making a huge mistake. If they believe they are protecting the youth of America from some evil force, they are doing just the opposite. Freedom in the fullest sense means that one must be able to act authentically, to create and own one’s actions. Cognitively, it means escaping from stories, based on the past, that run most of our lives. Only then can one call what they are doing their own—the autonomy that underlies freedom. The idea of critical thinking arose when thinkers figured… Read More
Continue ReadingAnd then they came for me
Another rejected oped. I have been trying to get McGilchrist and the divided-brain-model into the press with no success so far. It seems a waste to simply file them away. More to come from the past and, I expect more in the future. What holds the United States together? This question has become very important in the face of the many rifts that have cropped up recently. The answer is not, as many might say, patriotism or nationalism or any other ideology. The glue lies in the many powers, rights, or duties that have been explicitly created through the ratification… Read More
Continue ReadingA Response to David Brooks
Here is yet another rejected oped piece, this one by the NYTimes. I wrote this in response to a David Brooks oped, headlined, “America Is Falling Apart at the Seams,” (click here to see it). He pointed to all the asocial events going on in the US, but could not identify any reason. That was the main thrust of his piece. My attempt to provide a good reason didn’t make it into the editorial pages. How can we, who think we have a solid clue to explain and repair our badly damaged social system, crack the wall that prevents the… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Importance of Truth
If you are driving to a particular place, but following the wrong map, you won’t get there, except by chance. If your cognitive map does not match reality—the terrain of the world in which your actions inhere—outcomes won’t match intentions. Unintentional consequences, like inequality or global warming may appear. Stated otherwise, reality always wins the game of life, sooner or later. This truth governs collective as well as individual life. This should be obvious, but is being ignored in political life today. Democracy and truth are inextricably woven together. The will of the majority is meaningless unless that will fits… Read More
Continue ReadingReality and Democracy
The craziness of life in the US has abated a little following the inauguration of President Biden, but its causes still lurk in the background, but not far below the surface. Faced with a serious attack on our democracy, we are told by the pundits that our institutions held and we were saved (at least for now). Perhaps, but the institutions that hold us together are really in trouble. Institutions are nothing more than linguistic creations. We tend to talk only about the very big ones, but we exist within many, many of them. In today’s highly technocratic society, we… Read More
Continue ReadingThe Election Nobody Won
I was sitting at my computer the morning after the election, not unexpectedly, awaiting the vote counting to end. It looked like Biden would be the next President. Now we know he will be, but it will be short of a victory. It will return truth to the White House, but little else. And even that will not matter much so long as the body politic has lost the basic civility on which democracy depends. Civility is at heart an acknowledgment that the burdens of governance are shared by all the people, and that requires an even more basic condition.… Read More
Continue ReadingEnough Is Enough
With the so-called “sarcastic” remark about shooting up with powerful disinfectants, the President has gone over the edge. Better the edges because there are so many limits that are being transcended by this clown. How anyone can condone the acts of this snake oil salesman who occupies the highest office of the land is beyond me. What he did is so reprehensible as to eliminate any remaining questions about his ability to spend even one more day in the White House. Peddling snake oil remedies from the Rose Garden, perhaps understandable in 1800, seems to be the epitome of high… Read More
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