Philosophy
Sad news today. Doris Haddock, better known as Granny D, passed away. She is best known as an advocate for campaign finance reform who walked across the country from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. as a spry 90 year old to try to raise awareness of the corrupting role money plays in our political system. She also ran an unsuccessful bid for the Senate.
I was fortunate to have lunch with Granny D a few years back when she was visiting my dear friends, Pat and Lou, who, like Granny D, are not only activists for many good causes in the name of democracy but also senior citizens. I think of the three of them and marvel because I know many people with good hearts who spend years fighting the good fight to help bring about positive change in this world, only to end up disillusioned, exhausted, and bitter. Indeed I worry that some day I too will end up a crabby old liberal. but then I look at folks like Granny D and wonder what it takes to keep the fire burning, to have your commitment to justice not get quashed by the money and influence the bad guys wield.
That is today's question. What do you need to do to keep the optimism, to keep working when you see that there is so much that needs to be done no matter how much you accomplish. How can you keep the sisyphisean task from wearing out your spirit?
- Neo-partisanship And Post-partisanship
The steady-state of American politics since the 1990s has been hyper-partisanship. Conventional wisdom at the time had been that the US electorate was comprised of three main factions, activists on the left and activists on the right whose votes were...
- Glowing Embers
In response to the discussion a few days ago about how to avoid the fate of so many good-hearted people who get beaten down by years of fighting the good fight for peace, justice, and equality, Ron Zucker wrote some wonderful words and he's graciously...
- The Police And Bitter Old Liberals
Since their re-union tour is connected with the Virgin festival which is coming to Baltimore, local stations have been playing a lot of Police. Tunes I haven't heard in years. That was some good stuff. It's made me think... Sting has done fine...
- Logical Fallacies Examples ? Appeal To Novelty And Age
As always let's begin with a simple definition. A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning which usually relies on a wrong assumption made in the argument. Appeal to emotion is one of the most popular types of logical fallacies ? examples of these...
- Not All Are Equal...google, Verizon
"Protesters denounce Google plan for 'two-tier internet'" by Maggie Shiels August 14th, 2010 BBC NEWS Around 100 people have rallied outside Google's California offices to protest against controversial proposals to alter how data is treated...
Philosophy
RIP Granny D
Sad news today. Doris Haddock, better known as Granny D, passed away. She is best known as an advocate for campaign finance reform who walked across the country from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. as a spry 90 year old to try to raise awareness of the corrupting role money plays in our political system. She also ran an unsuccessful bid for the Senate.
I was fortunate to have lunch with Granny D a few years back when she was visiting my dear friends, Pat and Lou, who, like Granny D, are not only activists for many good causes in the name of democracy but also senior citizens. I think of the three of them and marvel because I know many people with good hearts who spend years fighting the good fight to help bring about positive change in this world, only to end up disillusioned, exhausted, and bitter. Indeed I worry that some day I too will end up a crabby old liberal. but then I look at folks like Granny D and wonder what it takes to keep the fire burning, to have your commitment to justice not get quashed by the money and influence the bad guys wield.
That is today's question. What do you need to do to keep the optimism, to keep working when you see that there is so much that needs to be done no matter how much you accomplish. How can you keep the sisyphisean task from wearing out your spirit?
- Neo-partisanship And Post-partisanship
The steady-state of American politics since the 1990s has been hyper-partisanship. Conventional wisdom at the time had been that the US electorate was comprised of three main factions, activists on the left and activists on the right whose votes were...
- Glowing Embers
In response to the discussion a few days ago about how to avoid the fate of so many good-hearted people who get beaten down by years of fighting the good fight for peace, justice, and equality, Ron Zucker wrote some wonderful words and he's graciously...
- The Police And Bitter Old Liberals
Since their re-union tour is connected with the Virgin festival which is coming to Baltimore, local stations have been playing a lot of Police. Tunes I haven't heard in years. That was some good stuff. It's made me think... Sting has done fine...
- Logical Fallacies Examples ? Appeal To Novelty And Age
As always let's begin with a simple definition. A logical fallacy is an error in reasoning which usually relies on a wrong assumption made in the argument. Appeal to emotion is one of the most popular types of logical fallacies ? examples of these...
- Not All Are Equal...google, Verizon
"Protesters denounce Google plan for 'two-tier internet'" by Maggie Shiels August 14th, 2010 BBC NEWS Around 100 people have rallied outside Google's California offices to protest against controversial proposals to alter how data is treated...