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Blog 3 Columns

  • We’re All ‘Snowflakes’ Now

    We’re All ‘Snowflakes’ Now0

    A quote frequently attributed to Socrates says that “When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.” And probably the most cited logical fallacy these days is the ad hominem, which is an attack “against the person” rather than his or her actual argument. For these reasons, I and many others have

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  • Tariffs: Are They Really That Bad?

    Tariffs: Are They Really That Bad?0

    The Founding Fathers gave Congress the power to “regulate commerce with foreign nations” in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.  The Framers encouraged sanctions, duties, and fees as revenue-raising measures.  Thomas Jefferson argued, “We ought not to depend on supplies from other countries.  Shall we suppress imposts [tariffs] and give that advantage to foreign

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  • Karl Marx Was a Pretty Bad Person

    Karl Marx Was a Pretty Bad Person76

    When Karl Marx died in March 1883, only about a dozen people attended his funeral at a cemetery in London, England, including family members. Yet, for more than a century after his death – and even until today – there have been few thinkers whose ideas have been as influential on various aspects of modern

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  • How Religion in America Differed From Religion in Europe

    How Religion in America Differed From Religion in Europe0

    I recently came across a bit of news noting that the Trump administration is considering overturning the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits tax-exempt charitable groups from endorsing political candidates and engaging in other forms of political activism. My own feelings on this issue are mostly ambivalent (for now) because I have not yet given the matter

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  • ‘This is What Police States Do’

    ‘This is What Police States Do’0

    “This is what police states do.” These words come from Bloomberg columnist Eli Lake, speaking of government spies selectively disseminating private conversations recorded by the NSA and FBI. Lake, a former senior security writer for the Daily Beast, was writing on what he called “the political assassination” of Michael Flynn, the man who now has

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  • Why Americans Refrigerate Eggs and Europeans Don’t

    Why Americans Refrigerate Eggs and Europeans Don’t0

    A few years ago, I bought some fresh eggs from a friend who owned chickens. They were wonderful. I’m not fussy about the topic so I can’t say that I go out of my way to get fresh eggs. I’ll take them when I can get them. However, I’ve long been intrigued by her instructions

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  • Study: Unhappy New Marriages Usually Turn in to Happy Ones

    Study: Unhappy New Marriages Usually Turn in to Happy Ones0

    Valentine’s Day is all hearts and flowers and mushy goodness. In the midst of all this mushy goodness, it’s sometimes a relief to view the day through a lens of reality, such as the one displayed in the meme below: For many parents, that last point is far more realistic than most would like to

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  • Nietzsche Wrote Love Poems (And They Are Just What You’d Expect)

    Nietzsche Wrote Love Poems (And They Are Just What You’d Expect)0

    The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) is probably not the first person who comes to mind when you think about romantic love. For most of his life, Nietzsche was a solitary and lonely figure. In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche railed against the evils of women, only to recant all that he’d written a paragraph later. He

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  • Is it Logical to Say that Health Care is a ‘Right’?

    Is it Logical to Say that Health Care is a ‘Right’?0

    In last week’s debate on Obamacare between former presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders, Sanders challenged Cruz to say that health care was a “right.” But what exactly does it mean to say that health care is a “right”? If you were to logically analyze the concept of “rights” you would discover that there

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