One thing we can observe about Aristotle’s writings from our modern standpoint is that we got a whole bunch of stuff wrong, and the quote at left is a good example.
In fact, this specific quote was parodied by someone in recent times (George Carlin?), who said “The idea of waging war for peace is like screwing for virginity.”
Private health insurance is a $1.7 trillion industry, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.08%. If you think the recipients of all this cash are going to step aside, just so Americans can enjoy the same benefits as the rest of the developed world, you’re out of your mind.
We may pretend we have compunction for our citizens, including our military veterans, dying of treatable diseases, but in the real world, we treat them with the same indifference as we do stray cats.
The position of many of today’s self-described “patriots” is offered at left. Apparently, the United States has reached a point at which we have to make a choice between:
a) being honest about our history and the mistakes we’ve made, and
b) teaching our kids to love their country.
Wisdom would suggest that lying to our kids is a bad idea, for the same reason that, as they say, honesty is the best policy. We’re rapidly becoming a nation of self-delusional lairs, and this is a truly terrible decision.
If you’re having trouble defining exactly what’s going wrong in the United States right now, you are to be forgiven. Yet, the words at left may be of service.
We seem to be having just the tiniest bit of trouble bringing the nation’s 45th President to justice, after he tried his heart out to overthrow our country’s government following his loss in the 2020 election, and his theft of thousands of highly classified documents.
The meme here came from a reader, whom I advise: If you have liars, haters, cheaters and disloyal people in your life, you don’t need prayers, and you don’t need a new year. You need a new life. Be brave. Seek it out.
At left is a good example of what I mean when I say, “It hasn’t been a good couple of hundred years for philosophers.”
In Locke’s day, the 18th Century, it was the province of philosophy to make statements that today are made by neuroscientists and epigeneticists. Moreover, we now know that what Locke said here is incorrect.
Similarly, until recently the subject of the cosmos and the building blocks of the universe was the purview of philosophers, metaphysicians in particular. Now, we turn to particle physicists for direction here.
I’ve been a fan of Sartre since my teen years. Maybe that, at last in part, explains why girls weren’t particularly attracted to me.
In any case, I’m not sure I like this quote from the 20th Century existentialist. Haven’t we all been by ourselves in a fabulous place, wishing we had a loved one with whom to share the experience?
No one with any moral sensibilities is thrilled with the prospect of another Trump administration, but let’s recognize that this could be the chance for redemption that the United States desperately needs.
This country is anxious to re-establish itself as a nation of laws, and a great deal can happen in the next four years to make this happen.
From Investopia, on the last two presidential administrations’ contributions to the national debt:
Donald Trump; $6,700,491,178,561.60 (~ $6.7 trillion)
Joe Biden; $4,738,415,474,674.48 (~ $4.7 trillion)
Outside of the $2 trillion difference, a major consideration is that Trump gave trillions of dollars in tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals and corporations, while Biden invested in our country’s infrastructure, most of which is focused on things that the common American finds valuable, e.g., healthcare, education, and the decarbonization of our energy and transportation sectors.
It’s fashionable nowadays to suggest that our schools add stuff to their curricula. Normally, these items are intended to make our young people more independent of a system that is rapidly deteriorating, and include things like growing one’s own food.
There’s no reason to object to this, except that, since our schools operate for a finite number of hours per year, for everything they add, they must remove something.
Given that a price must be paid for swapping subjects into and out of the curriculum, I think the guy here has the best possible deal: music, a discipline that is shown to make a smarter, less stressed, and more socially aware person.
Maybe if our kids were better, brighter people they’d be less likely to create a system that is deteriorating in the first place.
