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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 ( 1455 )
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Are We Becoming Less Trustworthy – Or Just Less Trusting?
A recent Associated Press-GfK poll finds declining levels of trust among Americans. Lost faith in institutions, like government, or churches, might be no... Read more
Posted on 25 April 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Lucretius, The Swerve, and Understanding Reality
Stephen Greenblatt’s The Swerve centers on a book-length First Century BC poem by Lucretius, On The Nature Of Things; apparently lost (like so much ancient... Read more
Posted on 21 April 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Cheryl Strayed: Wild
This best-selling memoir relates Cheryl Strayed’s 1995 1100-mile Pacific Crest Trail hike, from lower California through Oregon. Read more
Posted on 16 April 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Do Women Earn Less Than Men?
President Obama’s been loudly hitting the supposed pay gap between women and men. All too typically, this is a phony issue distracting from our true economic... Read more
Posted on 12 April 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
My Love Poems
April is National Poetry Month. So – having authored a novel as well as books about politics, coin collecting, and what I hubristically call philosophy – it’s... Read more
Posted on 07 April 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
PZ Myers, The Happy Atheist
I’ve read the major atheist books – Harris, Dawkins, Hitchens – which might be called “combative.” Some feel the confrontational stance disserves the cause.... Read more
Posted on 02 April 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Our Dubai Trip: Shopping Mecca
Dubai’s main attraction is shopping. Maybe not an obvious vacation choice for us non-shoppers.Luckily, there was a big international art fair, with worldwide... Read more
Posted on 29 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Russia Acting From Weakness — ?
President Obama says Russia is actually acting out of weakness.Maybe the most fatuous thing I’ve heard a president say. If this is weakness, we could use some i... Read more
Posted on 26 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“The World Without Us” — America’s Global Role
We got this film from Netflix on a misunderstanding. A book with the same title imagined Earth’s future if humans disappeared. But the film is a documentary... Read more
Posted on 23 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
A New Cold War?
DUBAI, U.A.E. — I recently participated in a discussion where someone said, “Why is Obama taking such a strong stance on Syria?” Huh? Read more
Posted on 17 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Pleasantville: A Subversive Allegory
“Pleasantville” was a 1998 film starring a young Tobey Maguire as Dave, a high schooler whom his popular slutty sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) considers a... Read more
Posted on 14 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Freetards
Paul Rapp is a local lawyer who writes a column on intellectual property in an “alternative” newspaper, Metroland. One of his 2013 columns started with a viciou... Read more
Posted on 11 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
21st Century Socialism and the War on (Small) Business
When I wrote about the “war on business,” some commenters dismissed this, saying profits have been strong, while it’s middle class jobholders who are hurting.... Read more
Posted on 08 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
World in Tumult: Tufts EPIIC Symposium
On Sunday we attended this annual event at Tufts University. This year’s topic was the Middle East and North Africa. The six-day symposium hosted around fifty... Read more
Posted on 04 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
The President’s Ukraine Speech
Good evening, my fellow Americans, listen up, and the rest of the world too. That includes you, Mr. Putin.I know I was a complete wuss on Syria, and let Putin... Read more
Posted on 02 March 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure: Film Review
OK, so we’re a little behind in reviewing flicks, and this one dates from the eighties. But we thought we had to see it because it’s such an iconic classic... Read more
Posted on 27 February 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Ukraine’s Revolution: It’s 1989 Again
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” — Martin Luther KingMy favorite year was 1989. Today, in Ukraine, it’... Read more
Posted on 23 February 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Obamacare, Jobs, and La-La Land
So you’ve heard that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) now estimates 2.3 million fewer people working by 2021, due to Obamacare.Republicans gleefully said,... Read more
Posted on 19 February 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Women, Bad Boys, and Contingency in Life
My Valentine’s Day post–I’ve written before of my difficulties getting it on with women. Being such a rationalist, I thought the way to go about it was to... Read more
Posted on 14 February 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY -
More New York Legislative Slime: Senator Jeff Klein
I’ve written before about corruption and cringeworthy behavior in our New York legislature.Despite a heavy Democratic enrollment edge, Republicans have managed... Read more
Posted on 11 February 2014 CULTURE, POLITICS, SOCIETY
