IMO, we need a tax on extreme wealth, rather than income. We’re taking about people with hundreds of billions of dollars in net worth. Taking, say, 5% per annum of that wealth and using it to feed and clothe the …
Category: Sustainability
Improving the Planet’s Health
When I was a young boy, my grandfather, who was one of the most politically conservative people I’ve ever known, told me to “make this world a better place than it was when you got here.” Now, that seems like …
Tagged with: Improving the Planet's Health
Celebrating Our Differences and Recognizing Our Common Humanity
Until Trump came along, it appeared that we were making fairly decent progress along these lines.
Insensitive People Surround Us
Re: the meme here, a reader responds, I am not afraid for myself, but I fear for others. See the difference? Exactly. I’m not afraid of the Gestapo because I’m not a Jew.
Tagged with: Insensitive People Surround Us
On Obediance
At left are the words of Erich Fromm, whom I would have called an early psychologist rather than a philosopher, but I suppose the boundaries are loose. In the main, most Americans, me included, are rule-followers, which is why we …
Tagged with: are rule-followers, At left are the words of Erich Fromm, but I suppose the boundaries are loose. In the main, me included, most Americans, that's precisely what we do. Having said that, the uprising of a fascist autocracy in the United States is not going to be acceptable for the vast majority of Americans. May this always be the case., which is why we stop at red lights. If our scientists tell us to have our children vaccinated against smallpox or polio, whom I would have called an early psychologist rather than a philosopher
Noam Chomsky on Responsibility of Intellectuals
This sounds good on the surface, but the problem is that average Americans aren’t exposed to the thoughts of intellectuals, and even if they were, they a) couldn’t care less about them, or b) would reject them as “leftist propaganda,” …
Tagged with: Noam Chomsky on Responsibility of Intellectuals
“Poverty is the Mother of Crime” – Marcus Aurelius
It’s almost inconceivable that there was a time in history that the most powerful person on the planet, in this case the emperor of ancient Rome, was a supremely good person. Nowadays the precise opposite is trending: vicious criminal dictators.
Tagged with: "Poverty is the Mother of Crime" - Marcus Aurelius
Incarceration Rates – What We Can Learn
As anyone could have predicted, there is a huge correlation between poor education/ignorance, moral poverty, and incarceration levels.
Power Enables Us to Help Others
Power is the ability to do good things for others. – Leo Tolstoy True power is not about control or status. It is about using what you have to help others grow, heal, or feel supported. Tolstoy reminds us that …
Moral Philosophy
Moral philosopher Peter Singer is probably best known as an animal rights advocate, and one who’s been at it for a very long time. I was reading his books when I was in college in the 1970s. Turns out he’s …
