Engaging Life with Courage and Intelligence
Let’s forget politics for a moment and think about physics. William Gilbert and Galileo Galilei are regarded as the two founders of experimental physical science. The common scholarship of their time was largely non-experimental. Scholars read Greek and Latin texts (including the Bible) to discover the ancient “truth” by logic and inference. “Truth” was considered…
Political figures and movements seek to attract others to get them to support their movement. They seek to rally compliant followers to their political magnetic pole just as the poles of Gilbert’s magnets force compliant metal objects to align their electrons in the same direction. An effective political leader or movement persuades agreeable and susceptible…
The French philosopher Jean Pierre Faye was the first to develop the horseshoe magnet theory of politics in 2002. He proposed that the extreme left and extreme right were not on opposite ends of the political continuum. He called our attention to the fact that both poles were equally far from the political center but…
Humans (including Neanderthals, Denisovans, etc.) existed for millennia in small hunter-gather groups. Each group made up its own behavioral rules and language or grunts. About 10,000 years ago, some homo sapiens put down roots and invented agriculture. These farmers no longer roamed around exclusively looking for wild food and game. These agricultural pioneers created communities…
The American colonists took the momentous action of cutting their ties with their autocratic British “protectors” in 1776. Their effort was ultimately successful and allowed them to create a new form of government. This new form of government was based on several foundations, such as a) rule by the people, b) the rule of law,…
Proctology and history are probably two of the least favorite majors in graduate school. They both study the ebb and flow of things and are the first to recognize when an eruption is about to occur. Since I know nothing about proctology and want to avoid its subject matter, I will focus on the history…
Classical Liberalism Arising from the Age of Reason was a comprehensive political philosophy known as classical liberalism. This philosophy was widely adopted in early America and elsewhere. Ironically, many MAGAs mistakenly believe that liberalism is a dirty, forbidden word. The mere mention of the word in some parts of America will cause “patriots” to whip…
Fanatical extremists have controlled local towns, counties, regions, and countries worldwide. Before the American Revolution, the Village of Salem and the Witch Trials come to mind regarding religious extremism. The religious fanaticism that gave rise to witch trials started in Europe in the 17th century, but most Europeans came to their senses by the middle…
Most of us discount the dangers of fanatical extremism, even though many Americans now believe in some version. We believe the threat to be somewhere out there. However, fanatical extremism can arise from nowhere or reemerge even when we think it has been defeated. Most Americans are largely uninvolved in politics. Despite the high-stakes tension…
We have discussed the deleterious effects of extremism and autocracy in the 21st century. Let’s go back several centuries to review three experiments in which brave people found ways to break the chains of tyranny instead of remaining attached to the umbilical cord of a freedom-sucking autocracy. As individuals, we tend to be drawn to…