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Unselfish Public Service?
As we get learn more about the indictment of Senator Robert Menendez, it’s worth remembering that virtue has long been one of the cardinal values of functioning democratic states. Almost three hundred years ago, the…
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Farm Aid 2023: Reason for Hope
Last week I travelled to Noblesville, Indiana. Never heard of it? I hadn’t, either, but it was the site of this year’s Farm Aid, an annual music, food, and farm festival. As its website says,…
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War: Everyone Loses
Eliot Cohen, writing in The Atlantic, asks, “Why Can’t the West Admit That Ukraine Is Winning?” (https://bit.ly/3NcghhY) Without engaging in detail with the article’s argument and evidence, it’s worth remembering that “winning” in Cohen’s sense…
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Unmasking America: the GOP’s war on science, evidence, and truth
There are over 10 million cases of Covid-19 worldwide. More than a quarter of those are in the United States. Why? Because of the GOP’s unrelenting war on science, evidence, rigor, and truth. The GOP…
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What are the police for?
According to the Urban Institute, state and local governments spent $115 billion on police. Broadly speaking, one might say that their purpose is to How good are they at this? The evidence I’ve seen suggests…