Those who reveal secret abuses of power are the friends of society and of history Corporal Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden are quite the center of controversy. The claim made by the government and the corporate elite is that Manning and Snowden are traitors to their country and have placed our national security at risk... Continue Reading →
Why we are complicit in the domestic spying scandal The most noteworthy observation that I have about the great brouhaha over Glen Greenwald's expose of US domestic spying in The Guardian is how absolutely shocked everybody seems. The press and the social media act as if this is some sudden revelation. We had no idea... Continue Reading →
Why Austerian Economic Policies are not "mistaken." They are strategic! Contemporary Keynesian economists are beside themselves. I have an image of Paul Krugman and Dean Baker et al. trying to cover the bald spots from where they've pulled the hair out of their heads. They just can't understand why, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary,... Continue Reading →
The 2012 Election and the Laws of Institutions Two years ago, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell made a surprisingly forthcoming and honest statement. He stated outright, "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." This statement has, on and off, been a centerpiece of Democratic... Continue Reading →
The Rise of a New Power Elite: The Intelligence Industrial Complex Note: This is actually an old blog that became a corrupted file. By the time I fixed the file the moment for posting was lost. In light of recent events, such as the National Defense Authorization Act and Obama's intrusive revisions of the Domestic... Continue Reading →
Economic tyranny is no different from political tyranny I received a call from a former college student of mine the other day. I use blogs in my college courses to inspire discussion and interaction. I allow students to express opinions so long as those opinions are supported with data, sound, logical thinking, and sociological perspectives.... Continue Reading →
In his history defining and seminal work, Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville explored the ins and outs of early nineteenth century American democracy. Of de Tocqueville's concerns about American governance the most famous was a critique that has become known as the Tyranny of the Majority. According to Tocqueville, the majority in America is... Continue Reading →
/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} A Plausible, Fictional Scenario Scene: conference room of the Nobel Prize Committee: Committee Person 1: Hey, I have an idea! Why... Continue Reading →
/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} If you were to design a surveillance system for keeping our nation safe from terrorists how would you do it? You... Continue Reading →
Have you ever been a part of a group in which secrets were being shared? Where were you in relation to those secrets? Were you the person sharing the secrets? The person learning the secrets? Or were you out of the secrets loop? Perhaps you were the subject of the secrets. Regardless, where you are... Continue Reading →
