One More Step Towards the Cliff
We weren’t prepared. We’re still not prepared.
Category: Politics and Government
The COVID Resurgence (or Revenge of the Sick)
As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic raged across the country over the summer of 2020, there was no shortage of public health officials, epidemiologists, medical practitioners and statisticians warning that a second wave of the virus could be expected. They implored the public to minimize social gatherings, continue wearing masks when around people and prepare for the […]
Requiem for the American Dream
Whatever one’s opinions or feelings regarding Donald J. Trump as head of state, a businessman, parent, spouse or human being, there is no denying the profound influence he has exercised over large swaths of the American electorate. His boorish approach to leadership has captivated millions. His indifference to advice and recommendations has been applauded by […]
Silencing Voices
“[T]he right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances” once again came under threat in Alamance County, North Carolina in recent weeks. A variety of activist groups joined in Graham on 24 November to protest the county’s most recent alliance with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. […]
Reduced Recycling
As a concept and in best practice, recycling is a wonderful idea. It finds ways to recover material that would otherwise occupy landfill space and uses it to create new products and materials. Some of these materials, theoretically, are infinitely recyclable as the chemical structure does not deteriorate and so could virtually eliminate the need […]
Losing (Black) Face
America has always had a contentious relationship with multiculturalism and, specifically, its tendency to simultaneously devalue and co-opt Black culture and Black bodies. One of the more blatant and visible examples of this is in the long tradition of white people using “blackface” and the practice of minstrelsy to demean people of color, perpetuate damaging […]
In Response – 5 July 2019
In the Summer 1993 issue of Foreign Affairs, the late Samuel P. Huntington published an essay titled “The Clash of Civilizations?”. The essay’s thesis has maintained an extraordinarily high value over the ensuing decades. In many ways, it became the dominant narrative among certain elements of the political right, particularly in the years immediately following […]
Tax Sham 2018
There has been much made in recent months of Americans realizing that their 2018 tax refunds are significantly smaller than in past years thanks to the Republican tax scam. This phenomenon has been well documented in the media, both social and mainstream. The story that has yet to emerge, but I expect will as people […]
The (Still) Lost Cause
Even as someone who has spent his entire life in “the South”, I will never understand the devotion and pride many people exhibit for their Confederate “heritage”. I’m sure that I have ancestors who fought in the War of Northern Aggression who probably fought well and died, if such a thing is possible, with honor for […]
American Caliphate
Were the founders of the American republic religious people? Probably, but whatever the answer they had enough humility and foresight to realize that religion, especially the great monotheistic traditions, was a dangerous foundation upon which to build a new nation. Additionally, they seem to have understood that a government wrapped in theology would be a […]
