Fsrcoin
MY BLOGS
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The Rational Optimist
http://www.rationaloptimist.wordpress.com/
Commentary of Life, Society, Politics, and Philosophy
LATEST ARTICLES ( 1292 )
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Christian/Conservative Nationalist Populism
It’s not just in America, but burgeoning all over Europe. And it’s not your father’s “conservatism,” but transmogrified into something unrecognizably... Read more
Posted on 17 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
What is Intelligence Good For?
I was gifted with a 2022 book, Talent, by Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross. Cowen is known as a Big Thinker. I hoped it might be a Malcolm Gladwell type book (in... Read more
Posted on 14 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Zero-Sum Us-Against-Them Populism
In the “good old days” (they weren’t) economic progress was nonexistent. Most people lived in extreme poverty, generation after generation. You could only get... Read more
Posted on 11 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Catskill High School and the Great American Insanity Machine
During rehearsals for a school performance, Catskill High schoolers were talking. Stop it or I’ll tape your mouths, Choral Director Michelle Storrs-Ryan said,... Read more
Posted on 08 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Trump and The End of the World
“Well, he was president before and it wasn’t the end of the world.” Thus do many Americans complacently shrug at the prospect of Trump’s election.Huge... Read more
Posted on 05 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Roots: Israelis and Palestinians Together
I attended a 2+ hour presentation by an Israeli and Palestinian, discussing their peoples’ situation. The words “Hamas,” “October 7,” and “Gaza” never came up. Read more
Posted on 01 March 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Voting and Demographics: What Really Drives Today’s Politics?
On Election Night 2008, when Obama was declared the winner, TV showed a middle-aged Chicago Black woman jumping up and down, shouting “God bless America! God... Read more
Posted on 26 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Humanism, Meaning, Values, and What Really Matters
“Humanity is at a painful point in history. We’re between paradigms, between stories. In the Western world, the old story is largely played out — the tale of th... Read more
Posted on 23 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
God Save Democracy . . . From Voters
My championing democracy isn’t just sappy sentimentality. Nor merely the principle of government accountable to citizens. Democracy makes for a better society... Read more
Posted on 20 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Alexei Navalny’s Murder
Alexei Navalny, Putin’s top critic, was imprisoned under bogus charges and harsh arctic conditions cruelly calculated to destroy his health. Yet Navalny, 47,... Read more
Posted on 17 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“Number Go Up” — The Cryptocurrency Phantasmagoria
Number Go Up — Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall — is a 2023 book by the aptly named Zeke Faux, an investigative journalist. Read more
Posted on 15 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Biden: The Age Issue
Let’s talk seriously about this.Old age used to be synonymous with decrepitude. Modern medicine has changed that. Eighty is the new sixty.President Biden, at 81... Read more
Posted on 12 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The Good Old Days — No Seating
“The past is a foreign country — they do things differently there,” wrote novelist L.P. Hartley.My wife has been building a library of books by local poets.... Read more
Posted on 09 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
2024: What Kind of Society Will America Be?
Democracy is at stake in this election, we’re told. But the word “democracy” does not even cover it.It’s more than just elections and voting, it’s the kind of... Read more
Posted on 05 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Israel’s Gaza Pogrom
“When the facts change, I change my mind,” said John Maynard Keynes. “What do you do, sir?”That is the hallmark of critical thinking. Facts shaping one’s belief... Read more
Posted on 02 February 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The BCD Numismatic Library Sale, and Human Endeavor
Coin collecting might seem a very solitary pastime; the coins themselves mere objects. Yet for me its rewards have been not just interior, intellectual (and... Read more
Posted on 31 January 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Russia and Republicans: Allies in Evil
Russia is winning its vicious war upon Ukraine — with no little help from its Republican bedfellows.Ukraine’s 2023 offensive fizzled for lack of firepower. Read more
Posted on 29 January 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Inflation: The Big Misunderstanding
Inflation sours Americans about the economy — and President Biden. A January 14 Associated Press article by reporter Josh Boak examined this in depth. But faile... Read more
Posted on 26 January 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Couples
was a 1968 John Updike novel. I loved his writing, but it took me ages to finish Couples. It was about sex, and I was in my early twenties, sexually clueless. Read more
Posted on 22 January 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
My Book Review of “The Democrat Party Hates America”
Here (slightly edited) is the text of my January 2 Albany Library talk, reviewing Mark Levin’s book, The Democrat Party Hates America.Back in September, I... Read more
Posted on 17 January 2024 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY