I’m a moral philosopher, cut from similar cloth with First Economist Adam Smith, to use a maxim from long ago. Smith might have saluted French President Emmanuel Macron at the 100th commemoration of the armistice ending World War I. Nationalism is betrayal of patriotism, said Macron in stern rebuke to the tribalism of President Donald […]
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Donald Trump, gamer extraordinaire, uses fear, resentment, even hatred to stoke his political base. Exaggerations and lies are prolific. In the seven weeks before midterm elections, Trump made 30 false or misleading claims per day, observes the Washington Post. Although unique, President Trump is far from alone. Fraudulent political strategy mimics fraudulent business strategy, well […]
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Ever been gamed? How does it feel? Have you been in the complex muddle of an airline ticket purchase online? You’re about to press the “buy” button for the flight you need, then suddenly and without warning, the computer playing against you raises the price $100? Or how about waiting patiently in line for a […]
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Americans are being gamed. We are gaming one another. Hyper-partisanship will not stop, cannot be ended unless gaming ends. MBA’s are trained to game. There are win-win games in which participants collaborate to expand payouts available to all players. American politics has become something quite different from a game of win-win, however. Our entrenched tribalism […]
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America needs to get its MOJO back. It needs to get its plow horse, too-long sidelined as a hobby horse, back into the field. Quite simply, this is the only viable route to making American capitalism great again. Forget high finance, computerized stock trading, casinos, high profile luxury hotel deals, and the like. You know: The sorts […]
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Opinion columnist Thomas Friedman laments a recent comment from a friend. What’s going on in America today, observes the retired Marine colonel, is far more grave than any external threat, including the Soviet Union. And this, says the friend, is because the threat we face is here and now, right at home, and coming from […]
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According to New York Times opinion writer Michelle Alexander, a new nation is struggling to be birthed. We are not the resistance to this birthing, she says. Instead, we are the new-nation-movement itself. It is Donald Trump and his minions, Alexander claims, who are the resistance; the ones pushing back; the ones blocking the pathway […]
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On the anniversary of Lehman Brothers’ crash ten years ago this month, America must hold accountable those responsible for the greatest economic disaster of our lifetimes. Many charlatans remain unrepentant—and unpunished—for the profoundly costly economic malpractice they perpetrated: the Great Recession. These are folks who continue to claim that government must be sidelined from economic […]
Read MoreAn anonymous writer claiming senior White House status dropped a bomb in a New York Times op ed published September 5, 2018. A synopsis of some key points is below. The writer defends what he calls the work of the “steady state,” not the so-called “deep state.” The latter alleges public employees who thwart the electorate […]
Read MoreAccording to New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman these three “climate changes” aren’t really about the weather. Instead, they describe enormous societal “earthquakes” now changing the very nature of work: technology, globalization and “tomorrow won’t do, I’ve got to have it now.” Learn more at: Why Are So Many Political Parties Blowing Up? – […]
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