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MY BLOGS
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The Rational Optimist
http://www.rationaloptimist.wordpress.com/
Commentary of Life, Society, Politics, and Philosophy
LATEST ARTICLES ( 1301 )
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John Lewis at the Bridge
The Edmund Pettus Bridge, 1965.John Lewis and his fellow marchers on that bridge knew what was coming. Courage is not lack of fear. Only a fool would have been... Read more
Posted on 19 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Race Issue: Reconstruction and Now
“The past is not dead. It’s not even past.” — William FaulknerEric Foner is a leading American historian, who spoke at the New York State Writers Institute’s... Read more
Posted on 17 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Why Pro-life Christians Should Dump Trump
To some Christians, abortion is a primal sin blighting America’s soul. It’s a supervening moral issue guiding their politics; they can’t imagine voting for a... Read more
Posted on 13 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
China Crushes Hong Kong
I could not write this blog in China or Hong Kong. It would be erased from the web — and me along with it, thrown in jail.When Britain agreed to hand Hong Kong... Read more
Posted on 11 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Tales of Bermania
Once traveling with my family through Philadelphia Airport, I encountered an acquaintance, and introduced my little daughter to him as the King of Bermania. I... Read more
Posted on 08 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Let’s Talk About Race (again)
My 2009 “Rational Optimism” book addressed race. Rejecting the trope of America as a fundamentally racist society, I saw a nation “that has made titanic... Read more
Posted on 05 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Covid-19: The March of Folly
From the start, Trump repeatedly assured us the virus was under control; no big deal; everyone could get tested; it would go away miraculously; and applauded hi... Read more
Posted on 03 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Ethics of Humanitarian and Development Efforts: Problems Versus Symptoms
My daughter Elizabeth, 27, has worked for five years in the Mid-East for humanitarian organizations, currently for a consultancy much involved in Afghanistan.... Read more
Posted on 01 July 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
How Trump Sinks U.S. Global Standing
One of Trumpdom’s most ludicrous lies is that’s he’s raising America’s world standing. In the Fox News alternate reality maybe. In the real world it’s the... Read more
Posted on 28 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Confederate Flags and Statues and Racism
They claim the Confederate flag symbolizes Southern cultural heritage, or independence, or states’ rights — or some such baloney. Who do they think they’re... Read more
Posted on 25 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Big Bang, Big Questions
Our Universe began with the Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago. It started virtually volumeless, virtually infinitely dense and hot, and then expanded. What... Read more
Posted on 22 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Ecce Homo
At a Buffalo NY Floyd protest, Martin Gugino, 75, longtime Catholic peace activist, was shoved backward by two policemen in full military gear. His head... Read more
Posted on 19 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Trump’s Death Rallies
Many Trump supporters still think covid-19 is a hoax.* Now he invites them to stake their lives on that.He’ll hold a rally June 20 in Tulsa, Oklahoma; later in... Read more
Posted on 16 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Biology of the Pandemic
My Capital District Humanist Society recently had a talk (over zoom) on the biology of the pandemic. It was a good scientific overview. Read more
Posted on 15 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Margaret Atwood: The Testaments
The Testaments is Margaret Atwood’s sequel to her 1985 novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. Set in Gilead, a near-future theocratic dictatorship, in lands between... Read more
Posted on 13 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“Defund the Police”? Or Law and Order for Police?
Why do liberals try so hard to appear crazy? Could have said “All Lives Matter” or “Black Lives Matter Too.” But making it just “Black Lives Matter” invites... Read more
Posted on 11 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Save America: Boycott Fox Advertisers
America is in deep trouble. The glue holding it together is dissolving. To say we’re divided into mutually hostile tribes is stating the obvious. But it’s not... Read more
Posted on 09 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Proof of Heaven?
Dr. Eben Alexander is a Harvard Medical School neurosurgeon. He’d never been a religious nut. Then in 2008, aged 54, he suddenly had a strange and severe... Read more
Posted on 05 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Protests and Looting: What’s the Difference?
George Floyd was callously murdered by a police thug. People have risen up in protest. Others took the opportunity for violence and looting. Read more
Posted on 03 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
While America Burns
Nero, according to legend, played his fiddle while Rome burned. At least he didn’t fan the flames.Trump’s presidency already represented a collapse of civic... Read more
Posted on 01 June 2020 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY