Category: Politics

Protected: A Moral Dilemma

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OLLI University Day: Civic Engagement Panel

I gladly accepted an invitation to participate in a panel discussion on Civic Engagement for the OLLI University Day program on August 15, 2019. Here is a link to the Panel Presentation Outline I prepared for the program. I was allotted five minutes to share my thoughts before entering into the panel discussion. This post …

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Does Our National Accounting System Reflect Our Values?

A rhetorical question, I’m afraid. We (I’m wearing my Economist’s Hat here) have long been aware of the hidden cost of externalities, those insidious, unmeasured penalties incurred by society in a profit-driven economy. In our national accounts, for example, we measure the dollar value of energy produced (such as electricity or gasoline), but we do …

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Guns Do Not Stop Crimes

Vigilante Justice I’ve abbreviated the more awkward title of a Scientific American (SciAm) article that, in full, reads More Guns Do Not Stop More Crimes, Evidence Shows. It appears to me that the full article is publicly available, not behind a paywall, which would be a praiseworthy public service, although I’m a SciAm subscriber so I …

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The State of the World is on My Mind

For many years, most of my blogging was about politics. In the period from early 2005 until late in 2008, I devoted my energies to political organizing, and I wrote nearly every day about opportunities for people in my region (the western four counties of Massachusetts) to participate in activities in support of causes and …

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The Good Nudge

Another Obama program that may or may not survive in the new Administration. A recent (January 23, 2017) issue of The New Yorker contains an article (“Good Behavior“) that describes the final days of an Obama initiative to use behavioral science in the service of improving government performance. The article focuses on the Flint water …

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The Evolution of American Political Parties

Are we on the verge of a major shift in the way our political parties operate in this country? Jill Lapore has published a postmortem of the 2016 New Hampshire Primary, and perhaps of the political parties that we have known in recent years. Her basic point is that political parties have been with us …

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Meet Don Berwick, Sunday, July 20 in Great Barrington

Don Berwick is a Democratic candidate for Governor of Massachusetts. All are welcome, whether you are a supporter or not yet a supporter. We hope that people will be moved to make a contribution to the Berwick campaign, but that is not a requirement. Light refreshments will be served. Contributions of refreshments are welcome. If …

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Disability Forum at Perkins School on Thursday June 26

Please join us for a Gubernatorial Candidates Forum on Disability Issues All seven candidates for Governor of Massachusetts will appear at this forum, and each will have half an hour to make their case and answer questions. Don Berwick will be speaking second, at 1:30. Here is a flyer we will pass out at the …

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Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

On this Fathers Day, I think back on my own father. Dad to me, Gray to his family, The Gray Fox to many. He would be 98 years old today if he had lived beyond his 81st birthday. I still miss him. He was a lifelong Socialist and Pacifist, and (I now know) an Aspergerian. …

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