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- Three Tales from Amtrak
- Good Advice from George Washington
- Celebrating Pi Day
- Why The News Is So Bad
- Drug Policy: Good Is Better Than Perfect
- Don’t Live Thoughtlessly
- Beware of “Exceptions” to Freedom
- For The Chinese, Context Is Everything
- Character Is Destiny — For Nations, Too
- Kathy Shaidle, R.I.P.
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Author Archives: N.S. Palmer
Three Tales from Amtrak
In the early 2000s, I worked for a year as an IT contractor at Amtrak’s headquarters in Washington DC. My experience there showed one of America’s greatest problems, as well as its solution. The U.S. federal government created Amtrak in … Continue reading
Posted in Psychology, Society
Tagged Affirmative Action, Amtrak, Communication, Cultural difference, Diversity, H1-Bs, India, Merit, Productivity, Quota hiring, Replacement, Unemployment
2 Comments
Good Advice from George Washington
Until quite recently, U.S. President George Washington was considered the ideal American: honest, brave, wise, and patriotic. None of that has changed. Washington offered some good advice about how to have a healthy society and a just government: “We must … Continue reading
Posted in Human Relations, Political Science
Tagged Community, Evolution, George Washington, In-Group, Kin Selection, Out-Group, Social Conflict, Social trust
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Celebrating Pi Day
Today, March 14, is “Pi Day.” The date matches the first three digits of pi, 3.14. On the Nerd Calendar, Pi Day is even more important than Festivus or G.H. Hardy‘s birthday. Pi is the ratio between a circle’s circumference … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Philosophy, Science
Tagged Ancient Egypt, Ancient mathematics, Geometry, Irrational numbers, Pi, Pi Day, Pythagoreans, Rhind Papyrus
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Why The News Is So Bad
Why is the news so bad? I’m not talking about biased news. Yes, there’s bias, and it’s getting worse. But that’s not the issue here. I’m also not talking about why the news is full of so many evil and … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Psychology, Society
Tagged Accuracy, Corporate media, Corporate politician, Incompetence, Joseph Pulitzer, Journalism, News, News Media
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Drug Policy: Good Is Better Than Perfect
American laws about recreational drug use are a mess. Americans rot in prison for using or selling marijuana, which is relatively harmless. They rot in prison for selling cocaine and heroin, which aren’t harmless but harm mainly heavy users, and … Continue reading
Posted in Political Science, Psychology, Science, Society
Tagged Addiction, Cocaine, Corruption, DEA, Drug policy, Heroin, Marijuana, Perfectionism
6 Comments
Don’t Live Thoughtlessly
The American philosopher John Dewey argued that for most people, most of the time, thinking is a last resort. They only think when a problem or obstacle blocks their path. And he wasn’t wrong. Most of the time, we live … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Political Science, Psychology, Society
Tagged Conformity, Cruelty, Customs, Groupthink, Herd behavior, Independent thought
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Beware of “Exceptions” to Freedom
Yale University historian Timothy Snyder wrote a short book called On Tyranny that’s quite good. Each of its 20 chapters explains a way to preserve freedom and civilized society in the face of attacks by tyrannical government. The book came … Continue reading
Posted in Political Science, Psychology
Tagged America, American ideals, Community, Courage, COVID-19, Emergency powers, Freedom, Lockdowns, Patriotism, Tyranny
2 Comments
For The Chinese, Context Is Everything
It ain’t much, but it’s the first story I’ve written in Chinese. I’d wanted to write about Chinese political philosophy, but I found that my vocabulary was too limited to do it. Surprisingly, some Chinese ideas about governmental legitimacy are … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Psychology
Tagged China, Chinese, Culture, Diplomacy, Language learning, Languages, Mandarin
3 Comments
Character Is Destiny — For Nations, Too
China is our geopolitical adversary, but the ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius had some advice that might help us in these difficult times. He said: “Only after a person has demeaned himself will others demean him. Only after a great family … Continue reading
Posted in Philosophy, Political Science
Tagged America, Anarcho-Tyranny, Anarchy, George Washington, Mencius, Rules of Civility, Self-Respect
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Kathy Shaidle, R.I.P.
Blogger Kathy Shaidle died yesterday, but she lived long enough to write her own obituary. It’s a classic of class. R.I.P., Kathy. I hope to meet you someday (but not too soon): “Kathy Shaidle 1964 – 2021 Following a tedious … Continue reading
Posted in Life
Tagged Blogger, Courage, Faith, Humor, Kathy Shaidle, obituary, Smart women
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