What if The Wall had never been built? What lessons might this teach us in the real world?
On Walls, Refugees and White Walkers
How Are We Going to Pay for This?
First, there's plenty of money for everyone to get the benefits that they want. There's absolutely no need to have debates about raising taxes, deficits or MMT. All such arguments are distractions. If we want to pay for things like Medicare for All, Free College, or the Green New Deal, we need look no further than the coffers of the Transnational Corporate Class.
My Tour of the Victims of Modern Capitalism: Part I Haiti
American pundits often bend over backward to equate Venezuela to the perils of socialism. By that metric, Haiti should certainly be a warning to the world about the perils of capitalism.
Implicit Bias, the Thomas Theorem and Police Violence
Fear and Prejudice in Police Decision Making Two articles that appeared in Vox, taken together, were very revealing with regard to the ongoing debate and protest on police violence. The first had to do with explaining the violent responses of police in the field. The second elaborated on a psychological phenomenon referred to as implicit... Continue Reading →
Discriminatory or Wanton Police Violence is Dangerous
To the Police Note: I was planning this post for a few days, but in light of the despicable murder of two police officers in New York I feel that a caveat is in order. Violence is only justified in terms of self-preservation or protection of the innocent. And this only if no other options... Continue Reading →
Ferguson and the Thomas Theorem
On Predefining the Ferguson Protests In 1928, sociologist W. I. Thomas (left) wrote, "If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences." This has come to be known as The Thomas Theorem. It is an invaluable maxim for understanding social forces and interactions. I fear that the Thomas Theorem may prove prophetic... Continue Reading →
Cass Sunstein and Ezra Klein on Conspiracy Theories
Why People Embrace Conspiracy Theories I'm of the belief that a big part of conspriacy theories is gaps in our information base, be it through secrecy or less devious means. The Kennedy Assassination comes to mind. Clearly, there is information that is missing from the history on that event. Human beings simply must try to... Continue Reading →
Your Home Town
And its racial composition I am a map geek! So I was beside myself with joy when I happened upon this fantastic website produced by Dustin Cable at the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. It is an awesome tool. Every person in America is represented by a dot, color coded by... Continue Reading →
The Not So Secret Rise of the Intelligence-Industrial Complex
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 →
