Tracy Goodwin
My name is Tracy Goodwin and I am 32 years old. I live in Austin, TX with my wife and 2 children. I am preparing to start a masters program in political science at Stony Brook University in NY. In graduate school I plan to study social movements like occupy wall street, the tea party and the arab spring. I earned a bachelors of science in psychology and a bachelors of arts in philosophy from Arizona State University. I spent the last 2 1/2 years of undergrad working in psychiatric facilities so I am quite familiar with mental illness both from my education and experience. Currently I work as an actuary / statistician for the state of TX. I forecast Medicaid costs and caseload which gives me an intimate view of health care and health care related issues. I draw on my varied experiences in developing new ideas and solutions for the problems we face.
MY BLOGS
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SocioPolitical Dysfunction
http://sociopoliticaldysfunction.wordpress.com/
SocioPolitical Dysfunction - Politics in a Psychotic World
The US is at war, our national debt is growing at an alarming rate, unemployment is high, the economy is down, corporate money is flooding the political landscape and individual rights are being trampled. Yet when we need solutions all our politicians can do is bicker amongst themselves like a bunch of children. Congress would rather argue over ideology than try and fix the problems that face our nation.
SocioPolitical Dysfunction is a blog for the discussion of both the problems and solutions. This is a place for civil and rational discussion of issues rather than focusing on political talking points. The purpose is to seek pragmatic solutions instead of focusing on purely ideological positions.
LATEST ARTICLES ( 68 )
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The Intermingling of Self-Interest and Group Interest
It is commonly assumed that much of political behavior is driven by individual self-interest. People vote for tax breaks, better school or larger social program... Read more
Posted on 06 November 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Ideology: Biased Facts
Sometimes it can get frustrating when discussing policy issues with somebody who has strong political opinions. You point out a fact that supports your case... Read more
Posted on 28 October 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Ideology: The Perception of Bias
Most people consider some news sources ideologically biased. Many will say Fox is conservatively biased while other will complain of the liberal bias of CNN. Read more
Posted on 26 October 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Ideology: Partisanship as Identity
American politics is dominated by the idea that political ideology falls on a single axis from liberal to conservative or left to right. Read more
Posted on 24 October 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
McCain Talking out of Both Sides of His Mouth
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) published an Op-Ed on the Russian news website Pravda, in it he criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin. Read more
Posted on 19 September 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Money on the Brain
Imagine that you get in your car and it starts making a funny sound. Unfortunately your broke and don’t know how you will pay to fix it so you ignore it till... Read more
Posted on 17 September 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Can Political Knowledge Be Improved?
The research on political knowledge and opinion stability reveal critical information for democratic institutions. Upon initial examination the data shows that... Read more
Posted on 17 September 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Consumer Activism: Sleeping Giant Or Passing Fancy
This week I was reading part of the book “A New Engagement? Political Participation, Civic Life, and the Changing American Citizen”. While reading I came... Read more
Posted on 30 August 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Graduate School Begins
I apologize for not posting over the past couple of weeks. I have just moved from Austin, TX to Huntington, NY in order to go to graduate school. I am working o... Read more
Posted on 30 August 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Don’t Blame the System: Why Capitalism Must Be Saved from the Capitalists
* This is a piece I read for class and wanted to share. While I do not fully agree with everything here I do like the general thrust of the piece and wanted to... Read more
Posted on 30 August 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Tax Reform: Not for Public Disclosure
Picture by Katie GoodwinCOMMITTEE CONFIDENTIAL. NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION. DO NOT COPY. These materials may not be released to the public from the National Archives... Read more
Posted on 29 July 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
PRISM: Not Enough Data for the NSA, They Need More
So as if NSA surveillance wasn’t already over the top another revelation has come out that the government wants more of our data. Read more
Posted on 26 July 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Graduate School Excitement
I am so excited to start graduate school. I was accepted to Stony Brook University masters of political science program. My classes begin on August 26th and I... Read more
Posted on 17 July 2013 SELF EXPRESSION -
Is Congress Getting Paranoid?
Most of you may have never heard of Huawei which is a china based communications company who’s equipment connects one third of the world’s population and is th... Read more
Posted on 17 July 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
“We Welcome the Conversation”
We all have heard the President, administration officials and Congressional members state that they “welcome the conversation” on a variety of topics. Read more
Posted on 16 July 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow
One week ago I left Hong Kong after it became clear that my freedom and safety were under threat for revealing the truth. My continued liberty has been owed to... Read more
Posted on 03 July 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Shut Down the NSA’s 1.2 Billion Dollar Utah Data Center
we petition the obama administration to: Shut down the NSA’s 1.2 billion dollar Utah Data Center The Utah Data Center is a data farm that will begin harvesting... Read more
Posted on 03 July 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
President Obama, If You Believe in NSA Surveillance, We Challenge You to a...
we petition the obama administration to: President Obama, if you believe in NSA surveillance, we challenge you to a live, public debate with Edward Snowden. Read more
Posted on 03 July 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Pardon Edward Snowden
we petition the obama administration to: Pardon Edward Snowden Edward Snowden is a national hero and should be immediately issued a a full, free, and absolute... Read more
Posted on 03 July 2013 POLITICS, SOCIETY -
Possible New Schizophrenia Treatment Revealed
Avatars created by schizophrenia patients and operated by therapists – a treatment that has shown encouraging results in a pilot study. Photograph: Professor... Read more
Posted on 20 June 2013 HEALTH, POLITICS, PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIETY