Trying to understand the rise of Trump, David Brooks points to our culture's "individualistic/autonomy mindset" - as if that were a bad thing. Actually, "rugged individualism", whether opportunistically celebrated by the right - or the by the left, should not be understood as being antithetical to any "community/membership mindset" In fact, as conservatives rightly point out, the opposite is more true. Individualism, as in some relative degree of "self-sufficiency", is absolutely necessary for affiliation between equals. And there lies the rub!
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
The Big Swindle
What would happen if Americans became convinced that they live neither in a democracy nor a capitalist economy? For two generations now, Noam Chomsky has been in the forefront of those building a strong case for such an unsettling model of US governance.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
The Guilty Truth
The "Guilty Truth" of America is much older than the United States.
It was here for the Pequot War in 1634-38, at the Boston gallows in 1660, and in 1692 Salem. It was with us in the Philippine "Zones of Protection" enforced by the US Army
It's Never Too Late To Think
"Idiocy" is not the opposite of intelligence. There is actually a positive correlation between the two, just as there is a positive correlation between intelligence and "stupidity" (which is emotional). This is especially true in the culture which we are continually creating: one where the self and selfishness are idealized
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