Midwest vs Coasts: history, culture & politics

Often in reading about politics, my Midwestern worldview can make me feel like I’m working from a slightly different context than mainstream culture. The mainstream media tends to put issues in terms of Northeastern Democrats versus Southern Republicans or else East Coast Establishment versus West Coast Libertarianism/Liberalism. The Midwest is none of these. I was thinking about this [...]

America’s Hyper-Individualism: a tale of deception & immorality

American Exceptionalism Subsides The American-Western European Values Gap In America, religion is considered important. However, this religiosity is more about individual salvation than helping those in need. From this individualistic worldview, Americans believe individuals control their own lives. This individualism is extended to national isolationism where we believe in only helping our own country. This individualism goes [...]

Radicals & Reformers of Indiana

As I’ve been doing genealogical work, I’ve also been thinking about my studies of history and generations. Part of my lineage is German. In the US, German culture and history hasn’t received fair and equal treatment. This is for many reasons. The Germans were the enemies of the US earlier last century and at that time propaganda was at [...]

Dull Scientists and the Reliable ‘Dumb’

Why are modern scientists so dull? Medical Hypotheses. Volume 72, Issue 3, Pages 237-243 Bruce G. Charlton “Question: why are so many leading modern scientists so dull and lacking in scientific ambition? Answer: because the science selection process ruthlessly weeds-out interesting and imaginative people. At each level in education, training and career progression there is [...]

My Bumper Car Philosophy of Life

I sometimes find myself complaining about a particular person or group or criticizing a type of person. It’s amusing. Everyone feels this way sometimes. In being who we are, we inevitably can’t fully understand (emotionally or cognitively) others who are very different from us. It’s perfectly normal, but most often we don’t think about how [...]

The Mystery of GOP Truthiness: what is the appeal?

An article from The New York Times discusses the low quality of GOP candidates: “It is an ‘Animal House.’ It’s a food fight,” said Kenneth Duberstein, a chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan. “Honestly, the Republican debates have become a reality show. People have to be perceived as being capable of governing this country, [...]

Do Americans Support Unions & Union Rights?

Public opinion on unions in the US has always been mixed, going up and down. The Cold War led to rhetoric falesly accusing anyone who cared about the lower classes to be Commies. Chomsky has pointed out that, in a democracy, propaganda is a key element the powerful use to keep the powerless in line. Propaganda does work, [...]

Liberalism: Label vs Reality (analysis of data)

I’ve looked at this poll before but was just browsing it now to check out again the liberal data. http://www.people-press.org/files/2011/05/Political-Typology-Detailed-Tables.pdf In the 2005 Pew poll, the demographic was just called ‘Liberals’. In this 2011 Pew poll, the demographic is called ‘Solid Liberals’. So, I don’t know if it is speaking about the exact same demographic [...]