It seems we’re on the news carousal, going up and down, seeing the same scenery over and over again as the carousal revolves. This is could be to a dearth of ideas, boredom, or the monotony of geopolitical events which have become as predictable as whether the sun will rise. But maybe another problem is… Continue reading Our Less Particpatory Times
Tag: society
The Wealth Inequality Obsession
There have been more articles than usual about social science issues such as wealth inequality, ‘the 1%’, student loans, offshoring wealth, and so on. I counted ten such articles on Hacker News in the past week alone, all of them viral: Wealth doesn’t trickle down – it just floods offshore, research reveals (2012) The 1%… Continue reading The Wealth Inequality Obsession
Post-2008 Themes
Lately there has been a plethora of these ‘how-world-is-changing’ type articles on social news sites, and they seem to do well, as measured by comments, interactions, and shares, so here is another one: The Crisis of the Blue Model Within a decade … between a third and a half of the current employees in finance… Continue reading Post-2008 Themes
Explaining America’s Economic and Social Stability
Fred Reed ponders the ‘endgame ‘ for America. Things do not look good. The country is disintegrating. The borders are open, against the will of much of the population. Our universities are in sharp decline, the students a rebellious unschooled rabble portending a peasant future. The economy gutters and standards of living fall. Jobs are… Continue reading Explaining America’s Economic and Social Stability
The Second ‘Great Experiment ‘
The first ‘great experiment’ was secession from Britain. Yeah, some on the on the ‘NRx-sphere’ argue this was ‘bad’, but the data shows that secession succeeded, with the US economy not only surpassing Britain but becoming the biggest in the world, as well as a global military superpower. Fast forward a couple hundred years, the… Continue reading The Second ‘Great Experiment ‘
What Martin Shkreli Says About America
I’ve mentioned Martin Shkreli a couple times here, posting some of his tweets. Martin Shkreli’s popularity is evidence we’re in a ‘smartist era’, where people’s intellectual contributions are more important than their character flaws. The synthesis of wealth and intellectualism is a defining characteristic of post-2008 America, culturally and economically, and few embody this synthesis… Continue reading What Martin Shkreli Says About America
Marshmallow ‘deferers’ vs. ‘eaters’
Since 2008, economically and socially, we’re also seeing the rise of the ‘deferers’ – the high-IQ kids who deferred eating the marshmallow, now grown-up, and are reaping all the fruits of prosperity in our ‘new economy’, getting richer than ever while the ‘eaters’ are on the lower echelons of society, stuck with crappy, low social… Continue reading Marshmallow ‘deferers’ vs. ‘eaters’
National Review Writer: Working-Class Communities ‘Deserve To Die’
Online, there is a storm brewing over NRO’s Kevin Williamson’s derisive comments about working-class communities, with outrage from pretty much everyone. Here is the pertinent passage: “The truth about these dysfunctional, downscale communities is that they deserve to die. Economically, they are negative assets. Morally, they are indefensible,” More information here and here. You have… Continue reading National Review Writer: Working-Class Communities ‘Deserve To Die’
Stock Bull Market Continues, Seven Years Later
The 2009 bull market is third-longest in history: Seven-Year Anniversary: From the Depths of the Crisis, a Bull Run If you go back to the archives and other posts, you will see that I was among the few pundits who called for a continuation the bull market, even as far back as 2011, as everyone… Continue reading Stock Bull Market Continues, Seven Years Later
In Search of ‘Reset’
As the passage below from a Reddit post below illustrates, many seek collapse, doom and gloom, or reset – to change the ‘game of life’ that they perceive as rigged or unfair, seeing Trump as a ‘messianic’ figure who will reshuffle the deck, with frustrated voters hoping they will get a better ‘hand’ under a… Continue reading In Search of ‘Reset’