In Praise Of Idleness

In Praise Of Idleness

  Bertrand Russell wrote his essay on the benefits of doing nothing in 1932 during the Great Depression which destroyed the jobs and lives of millions. You can read the essay at this LINK or scroll down to the bottom of this post and listen to it.Russell argues that...
Politics and Markets 3

Politics and Markets 3

 If capitalism undermines democracy (Lindblom, see Politics and Markets 1) and democracy undermines capitalism (Schumpeter, see Politics and Markets 2) then how can we make them compatible?That is the question we face today: authoritarian capitalism, democratic...
Politics and Markets 2

Politics and Markets 2

 In Politics and Markets 1, using Charles Lindblom’s model, I discussed how capitalism can undermine democracy. Let’s turn this around and look at how democracy can undermine capitalism.The influential economist Joseph Schumpeter finished his career at Harvard...
Politics and Markets 1

Politics and Markets 1

     In 1977 Charles Lindblom published Politics and Markets. In the book he explored what he called “the privileged position of business” in capitalist democracies. Governments depend on private business to invest, create jobs, and maintain economic stability....
Fiction or Nonfiction? Art or Science?

Fiction or Nonfiction? Art or Science?

     The only appropriate answer to “fiction or nonfiction? art or science?” is both.Fiction is a simulator. It provides emotional knowledge. How does a character’s suffering, courage, cowardice, love, loss and redemption feel? It provides moral imagination. “What...
The Gilded Presidency

The Gilded Presidency

      “The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.” Thucydides It’s been fifty years since I studied the history of western civilization at Stanford. My professor, E. Berkeley Tompkins, wrote Anti-Imperialism in the United States: The Great Debate,...