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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 ( 1308 )
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Dan Rather on “What Unites Us”
Dan Rather, at 87, is still actively in the news game, running an outfit called “News and Guts.” He appeared recently in Albany, discussing his 2017 book, What... Read more
Posted on 15 September 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Corporate Social Responsibility Versus Profits
For decades it’s been gospel that a corporation’s mission is just to maximize shareholder value. But now a group of over 180 heads of top U.S. Read more
Posted on 12 September 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Religion and Voting
Trump was elected by a minority, with three million fewer votes than Clinton. But hardly over half of those eligible voted; so Trump was elected by only about... Read more
Posted on 09 September 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Norman Rockwell’s America
On Labor Day we visited the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA. Rockwell was an “illustrator” who disclaimed producing “fine art. Read more
Posted on 06 September 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
A Vision for America
Trump has a vision of America. It says the real Americans have been under assault — economically and, mainly, culturally — by “others.” From outside, and from... Read more
Posted on 02 September 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Is the Novel Dead (or Dying)?
(This essay previously appeared in Trolley, the NYS Writers Institute’s online magazine.)I was a failed novelist. Good with words, perhaps, but less on human... Read more
Posted on 31 August 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Reading Tony Judt on People Telling Themselves Stories
Tony Judt was a lefty intellectual historian who died at 62 of ALS in 2010. When I was writing The Case for Rational Optimism, he wrote Ill Fares the Land, his... Read more
Posted on 28 August 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“Credit Recovery Courses” and Education Inequality
Inequality. Mostly it’s inequality of opportunity. Which comes down to inequality of education. America’s real and growing gap is between the better educated an... Read more
Posted on 26 August 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Trump, Destroyer of Conservatism
(This appeared as a commentary in the 7/14 Albany Times-Union)Democracy is not so much a set of practices (like elections) as it is a culture; a way of being. Read more
Posted on 24 August 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Dear Abby
I love reading “Dear Abby.” For the letters; not the advice dispensed. The original “Abby” was great, but she passed on and the column is now done by her... Read more
Posted on 20 August 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Sentinel: The Statue of Liberty
In 1986, when the Statue of Liberty was being refurbished, I made a donation. Later, receiving another solicitation in the mail, I said to myself, “No, I alread... Read more
Posted on 17 August 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Refugees: When the Doors Flew Open
My friend Olga arrived here as a Soviet Jewish refugee in 1979; I’ve written about her. She got out just before the door slammed shut. The USSR was one big... Read more
Posted on 15 August 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
BREAKING NEWS: Amid Election Chaos, Trump Urges Shutdown
NOVEMBER 3, 2020By James Thorntonand Julie MontalbanoAssociated Press____________________________________ Washington With today’s U.S. Read more
Posted on 12 August 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“Science for Heretics” — A Nihilistic View of Science
Physicist Barrie Condon has written Science for Heretics: Why so much of science is wrong. Basically arguing that science cannot really understand the world, an... Read more
Posted on 10 August 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Insanity: a Global Contagion
Hong Kong is China’s richest, most advanced, most economically vibrant part. When Britain agreed to return it in 1997, the deal was “one country, two systems. Read more
Posted on 08 August 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Race Hate Will Destroy America
Previously I’ve condensed here Michael Gerson columns. Last Thursday’s deserves reading in Read more
Posted on 06 August 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Democrats and America’s Soul
In the debates, the Democratic candidates had much to say about policy issues. But that isn’t what this election is about. It’s about America’s soul. What the... Read more
Posted on 05 August 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Suffer the Little Children
Child separation: first they cited the Bible to defend it. Then they said it’s the law — a lie. Then Trump said it was an Obama policy he was stopping. A lie... Read more
Posted on 03 August 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Trump and the White Trash Syndrome
Not all antebellum Southern whites owned slaves. Most were much too poor. They lived in squalor. But they had one consolation: holding themselves above blacks. Read more
Posted on 31 July 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
New York’s Sick Joke of a “governmental Ethics Watchdog”
New York State’s “Joint Commission on Public Ethics” (JCOPE) was created by the “Public Integrity Reform Act” to “restore public trust in... Read more
Posted on 29 July 2019 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY