Panic gathers, but government will protect us
The top-down arrangement of regulations, permissions, and enforcement has actual consequences for a lot of people. We can change this regime incrementally, just as it developed incrementally.
Author Archives: Steven Greffenius
Leadership during a pandemic
These tools of social pressure are the opposite of leadership. Leaders do not pressure, denounce, and coerce. Leaders open the way.
Mandatory shutdown: a politician’s calculus
We ran out of money after the bailouts. Too bad this mandatory shutdown didn’t work for you.
Self-management during a pandemic
If we stopped being so afraid, we would not need to turn to authorities who want to manage, administer, and control us.
Proposals for public action coupled with faulty logic
Well-constructed thought experiments help us understand a problem. They do not help us predict, either what will happen, or what would have happened.
Foreign interference in American politics: why intelligence agencies want us on alert
They are the shepherds that protect us from the Muscovite wolves. They can use the money to build stronger fences around us.
Predators, pigs, and presidents
Our emotional attachment to certain institutions, especially the presidency, signals us to think of our leader as something better than a pig. In that case, the emotional attachment has to go.
Surveillance, encryption, and free speech on the internet
Plainly they do not want to protect society, or enforce laws for society’s benefit. They want to dominate society and intimidate citizens. Access to private information helps them do that.
Politics and law properly understood
Even if Trump’s appearance on the scene dismays many, we can be grateful for his daily reminders that “he alone can fix things.” That is the voice of power, not law.
Projection always gives the game away for Trump and his acolytes
When Trump’s apologists react as they do, they remind all of us that their obsequious loyalty to a person with no class makes them outstanding reporters of his faults.
Death of democracy, a little at a time
Some might say a rupture that destroys democracy will come – we just don’t know when, where, or how. Look around you. It has already happened.
Brexit is done
Not everyone in Britain wants to say good riddance, but many have looked to this day for a long time.
