WHEN THE POLITICS IS SO DISTORTED I have a problem. You see, since I started this blog eight years ago, during an historic election year no less, it has always been the policy that the Mad Sociologist Blog was not a platform for endorsing candidates. For eight years I've been faithful to this policy. Yes,... Continue Reading →
VOTE WITH YOUR HEAD OR VOTE WITH YOUR HEART Robert Reich and Chris Hedges, two men I have a great deal of respect for, give voice to debate that all left liberals are struggling with. Do we vote, yet again, for disappointing nominee, relegating left wing positions to secondary status in the Democratic Party, or... Continue Reading →
Letting the system burn to the ground may start a conflagration that we will never be able to control. This is the danger of Apocalyptic Liberalism. An actual Apocalypse.
CONSERVATIVES WHO REJECT DONALD TRUMP'S NATIONALISM DO HAVE SOMEONE TO VOTE FOR Okay, look. Progressives are almost certainly going to vote for Hillary Clinton. They don't want to, but they will because--Trump. Bottom line. It's frustrating to have to be in this position when there was a candidate who represented our interests for the first... Continue Reading →
LAW AND ORDER, TRUMPISM AND "US AGAINST THEM" Protests in the streets, mass shootings, police shootings, political gridlock. What in the world is wrong with our country? I hear this all the time. It's hard for a sociologist to answer. We have so many variables running through our brains, all of which we are, by training, locked... Continue Reading →
DISCUSSING THE 2016 PRIMARIES AT THE KAMINSKI CODE PODCAST With Joseph Kaminski and Elliot Declet. And they were good enough to edit out my colossal sneeze about half way into the discussion! It was great fun sitting down with serious students of the political scene and sharing my wisdom and having a few laughs while... Continue Reading →
THE SIMPLE SOCIOLOGY BEHIND TRUMP RALLY VIOLENCE In sociology we have a useful tool called the Thomas Theorem. It's really a quote from the sociologist W. I. Thomas, "If men[people] define situations as real, they are real in their consequences," that has become a sociological staple. This simple sentence really is a valuable tool for understanding... Continue Reading →
BEING RIGHT ISN'T ALWAYS A GOOD THING I was going through some old posts on the Original Mad Sociologist Blog. I'm planning on publishing some retrospectives and I'm compiling some of my work. That's when I stumbled upon this post from December 2014. The post is a response to a Facebook conversation that I had... Continue Reading →
YES, IT WAS THAT BAD Rachel's recap of the 2016 Republican Primary shows the Keystone Cop influences on the party.
A SANDERS AND A CLINTON ARGUMENT FOR DEMOCRATIZING THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY This election cycle has really been a lesson in American politics. The most significant lesson comes with an awakening and clarifying awareness of how delegates are selected in both parties' nominating process. We've always known that delegates played a role in selecting presidential nominees, but... Continue Reading →
