U.S. politics and politics in general
I’ve written on my understanding of centrism here and here. The essence of centrism is an acceptance of a limit for everything. This means there are limits in all directions. The image of this is a closed convex curve with a center in the middle of the region enclosed. Without limits, there is no center. […]
In abstract algebra, a semiring is an algebraic structure similar to a ring, but without the requirement that each element must have an additive inverse. Analogously, what could be called a semi-marriage is like a marriage, but without the requirement that the persons be of opposite sex. (Compare here.) How would this work? First, a
Direct democracy is an idealized concept in which the people vote on all political matters. Besides being impractical, it assumes the people have sufficient time and information to consider every matter. Such a continuous democracy would be like the weekly polls published by the news media, except they would result in real decisions – and
The low end of the news business makes little or no attempt to separate news and opinion. The better news outlets attempt to separate news and opinion, but are failing. What are the reasons for this? Let’s take it that news reports ought to consist of factual information about the world, rather than opinion. Granted
Now that the U.S. is politically polarized, it is reversing polarity. The liberals are the new conservatives. The conservatives are the new liberals. The Democrats are the new Republicans. The Republicans are the new Democrats. Let me explain. In the past, the liberals were pushing for change, promoting equality, and seeking a better future. The
Good soldier Schweik was a character invented by Czech author Jaroslav Hašek in the 1920s: Through (possibly feigned) idiocy or incompetence [Schweik] repeatedly manages to frustrate military authority and expose its stupidity in a form of passive resistance: the reader is left unclear, however, as to whether [he] is genuinely incompetent, or acting quite deliberately
Cherchez la femme is a French expression from the 1854 novel The Mohicans of Paris by Alexandre Dumas, which means “no matter what the problem may be, a woman is often the cause. Look for the mistress, the jealous wife, the angry lover… there is a woman at the root of each problem.” The alternative
I last wrote about religious freedom here. The post concerns how to define religion for purposes of religious freedom. Basically, there are two ways to define religion: (1) a narrow, traditional sense in which religion means one of the world religions, which are concerned with worship of God or gods and/or following a certain way
From what most media outlets say and the way most people talk, it would seem that the most important thing politicians do is make speeches. Talk, talk, talk, day after day. Some words bring headlines, perhaps unwanted. Other words bring praise or condemnation. In the end, what is most remembered about politicians is their words,
President Donald Trump is considered a very divisive leader. His election generated much anxiety and opposition before he even took office. His inaugural address showed his intention of implementing his agenda in opposition to the Washington, DC, establishment. With a divisive leader, people are either with them or against them; there is no middle way.
