An anagram
An often overlooked feature of the Star Trek universe, starting particularly with Star Trek: The Next Generation, is the socialist economy. The words “socialism” and “communism” are never used, and the stories are rarely about economic systems, so most members of the audience have failed to catch on, even with the contrast of the hyper-capitalist […]
It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing that all the world’s political and social problems could be solved if we could just somehow correct the lack of thinking that is all too common. Progressives talk about education. Conservatives talk about religion. So many strive and strategize to make their voice heard above others, […]
One of articles recommended this morning by the Firefox web browser was this one: Moms Are Worried About Their Sons Post-Election, Too. It got me thinking about producing a vlog on the topic of what it means to be a man and how to become one. That led me to think about with whom to […]
[Disclaimer: This is not, of course, a suggestion that we should try to avoid having a female President. Rather, it is an attempt to see the future.] The election of Barack Obama to the office of President was a huge win for Black Americans. However, it had an unforeseen side effect. The insult to racist […]
The recent Hamas/Israel events, and the world’s reaction to them, really perplex me. I have more than a basic understanding of the ages long Israel/Palestinian conflict, so I don’t think it’s my ignorance of the complexity surrounding it. I think it’s just that people are behaving in ways that don’t make sense. Beginning with the […]
I am currently reading Forever Peace, by Joe Haldeman. It is science-fiction, centered on an interface technology, surgically installed in the brain, that enables users to communicate mentally with machines and with each other. An effect of this technology is that users who “jack in” together are able to know each other fully. There are […]
I debate with myself about whether “progress” is a real phenomenon or an illusion. As much as our culture may seem to progress, it is at least partly nailed down by human nature, which is genetic and does not change, except at the much slower pace of evolution. The competing forces of cultural progress and […]
When Russia invaded Ukraine, it seemed a foregone conclusion that Russia would have its way. A Goliath pushing around a little nation. However, Ukraine’s resistance has been surprisingly effective, and Russia is revealing the limits of its power. Russia rebounded after the cold war, and it again considered a “super power” in the world. Russia […]
My understanding of Taiwan has been fairly simple. My understanding was that, during China’s communist revolution, those fighting against communism were pushed back so far that they retreated to the island of Taiwan, and they have been at stalemate ever since. China claims Taiwan as part of their territory, and they coerce other nations not […]
I have been 50 years old for a while now, and it has been a turning point for me regarding the way I think about life. Most importantly, I have been thinking about things and prioritizing things on the basis of how much of my life remains. I don’t know how long I will live, […]
