Political Thought
Marc’s post, yesterday, about the correspondence of a growing gap in wealth and a growing gap in once-expected behaviors between economic classes has led down some interesting roads and, I think, exposed some problematic thinking. One comment worth its own consideration comes from Mangeek: “…shouldn’t hesitate to voice their disapproval of those who defy these…
I don’t relish the observation, but it seems to me that Rep. Joe Trillo (R, Warwick) is displaying an unhealthy political philosophy in his quest for a Quonset casino: “It would have to be bigger than Foxwoods, bigger than Mohegan Sun, otherwise it’s not going to work,” he said. “To just go with a regional…
Roger Kimball expresses a pessimism with which I confess more than a little sympathy: Tootling around Washington, I was struck by — well, not by its prosperity, exactly, but by what is clearly a lavish outlay of funds — your funds, in fact. Everywhere I turned there were huge building cranes. In one spot, I…
I’ll admit that I don’t have much new to say about the continuing activities of the state-appointed budget commission now ruling East Providence: The state-appointed budget commission overseeing the city’s finances convened for the first time Wednesday, chose Michael O’Keefe, a former state budget director, as its president, and established its first priority: improving the…
Open thread question, especially to those who have been impressed by at least the energy of the Occupy Wall Street movement: As several hundred people assemble in Pawtuxet this evening, on the shortest day of the year and just a few days before Christmas to make an important decision regarding their future political direction, how…
The Understand Occupy Wall Street, All You Need To Understand is All of Political Philosophy, Part 1
Looking towards Marxism to explain Occupy Wall Street, as a number of writers have recently done, doesn’t go far enough to explain the sort-of-movement’s set of agenda items, or its choice of means for achieving its agenda. To fully understand the Occupy Wall Street Protests, its Providence counterpart, and how they differ from the Tea…
I can’t think of a body for this post that makes clearer what’s in the title.
Commenting on the image cut by “union protesters” (that is, protesting union members), Alice Losasso of West Warwick quotes Scottish historian Alexander Tytler as follows: “The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:…
Peter Thiel’s cover story for the October 3 National Review is worth a read. Essentially, he breaks “progress” into distinct components and argues that the United States is losing steam on the most important. Part of our problem, he argues, is that we’ve culturally begun to behave as if every aspect of society moves forward…
Readers of the Sunday Providence Journal will be familiar with the “In Quotes” column that typically appears on page A2; basically it’s a few notable quotes from the week, usually with a picture of the speaker. This week, one in particular caught my eye, because it’s from Brown professor Wendy Schiller, and I think it…