Politics and Science

Best Books that I Read in 2024               After reading parts of, “Why Nations Fail,” by Robinson and Acemgolu, and “The Politics of Place,” which is a description of Montesquieu’s writing by Baudoch, I have two concerns. “Why Nations Fail,” describes how extractive or exclusive political and economic systems slow innovation as current systems do not benefit from new technology, but the new technology could lead to more inclusive political or economic systems. “The Politics of Place,” describes that societies often promote security, liberty, and prosperity. After reading parts of these two books, societies must determine security, liberty, and prosperity, but for whom and when? Security, liberty, and prosperity immediately, but for people who are already safe, already well-educated, already free, and already prosperous? Books with parts that I enjoyed: Why Nations Fail by Robinson and Acemoglu The Politics of Place...

            I was reading Fight for Liberty, which is a collection of essays that attempts to defend democracy and human rights, sometimes from a neoliberal perspective. I briefly read an excerpt where one of the essays defends globalization. Globalization is the increasing interconnectedness of trade across the historical borders of nations, and globalization contrasts with protectionism. Protectionism is the preservation of business interests by using barriers to slow trade across borders, sometimes with tariffs or other measures, that prevent the money or business interests of one country from being harmed by the money or business interests of another country. Globalization, as it is currently practiced, represents that the people with money or business interests in different countries do not have to protect their interests from each other, are not in competition with each other, and have more in common with each other than the p...

             I read the Federalist Paper #2, which was published on October 31 st , 1787, and written by John Jay.   The essay starts:             “Nothing is more certain than the indispensable necessity of government, and it is equally undeniable, that whenever and however it is instituted, the people must cede to it some of their natural rights, in order to vest it with the requisite powers. It is well worthy of consideration therefore, whether it would conduce more to the interest of the people of America that they should, to all general purposes, be one nation, under one federal government, than that they should divide themselves into separate confederacies, and give to the head of each the same kind of powers which they are advised to place in one national government.”             Jay clearly states the necessity of governme...

The first Federalist Paper warns, “A torrent of angry and malignment passions will be let loose. To judge from the conduct of the opposite parties, we shall be led to conclude that they will mutually hope to evince the justness of their opinions, and to increase the number of their converts by the loudness of their declamations and the bitterness of their invectives. An enlightened zeal for the energy and efficiency of government will be stigmatized as the offspring of a temper fond of power and hustle to the principes of liberty. An overscrupulous jealousy of danger to the rights of the people, which is more commonly the fault of the head than the heart, will be more pretence and artifice, the stale bait for popularity at the expense of public good. (Some text omitted.) The noble enthusiasm of liberty is too apt to be infected with a spirit of narrow and illiberal distrust.” (Image from Wikimedia.)             Hamilton warns that...

Here are some songs which I listened to tonight. The songs might or might not applicable to recent political events in the United States. Here It Goes Again by OK Go Down We Go by KALEO Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne How Far We’ve Come by Matchbox 20 Fast Car by Tracy Chapman Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater I Am Defiant by The Seige (Spelled “Seige” not “Siege”) I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables Confident by Demi Lovato Correction: I fixed the name of the song by OK Go.

            The frequency of my posts tends to decrease when I’m stressed, when I work, or when I don’t feel that my posts will matter much. I am confused by the election results, not because I trusted the polls and thought that Vice President Harris was certain to win, but after Trump has been President for four years, and his policies clearly target other people, while the Democratic Party, both President Biden and Vice President Harris, worked to expand opportunity. If a person says something that is racist, sexist, or antisemitic, but they did not intend to cause harm, then letting them know about the harm, and comments like that might be less likely in the future. If a person makes a comment that targets another group, but their intent is to cause harm, then letting them know about the harm could increase the likelihood of those comments in the future. I am of two thoughts about Trump. I do not know whether to let Trump know ...