Musings of a Patriot

Tag: insights

  • My Experience as an Example of Old and New Media

    I realized after writing earlier this morning about the way new media is changing the news that my experience was a perfect example of the way that old and new media can interact to augment each other. It also pointed me to one of the key factors that is hurting existing media organizations and thus…

  • Honest Democrats in Congress

    If we are ever to achieve any health care reform that will actually have a positive impact on our society it will require that we have honest Democrats in Congress. Not just any honest Democrats, but enough of them and in the right places that they can use their honesty to guide the debate. The…

  • Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address

    I was tempted not to include Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address among my review of founding documents, but I have become very interested in the parallels between the struggles over slavery and some of the struggles of our day. One question I asked as I read it again was, “have we learned anything in the last…

  • What Journalism Could Offer

    James Fallows offers a list of benefits that the journalist has the potential to offer consumers. I would like to share his list and see if there anything he left out of the list. Perspective – reporters and editors are forced to act as a filter when deciding what to investigate and publish out of…

  • Wandering

    I thought about the value of wandering as one of our neighbors walked past our house this afternoon. He was just out for a walk with his daughter and their dog. There are many possible reasons that might have prompted the walk, but arriving at a specific destination or in a specific time was obviously…

  • Our Crisis in Foreign Policy

    Frank does a good job discussing One Lesson From Two September 11th Events. He is completely right to ask: What will it take for America to learn a similar lesson–that if we expect to be respected and not feared, that we must give respect? Why does America think it is better than the rest of…

  • Economies of Scale

    This news is disturbing but hardly surprising – our existing entitlement programs are unsustainable in the long term. The more I think about it the more I realize that this is like a lesson I learned as a child about ants. There’s an old movie that depicts 25-foot tall ants attacking people. What I learned…

  • The Law of Abundance

    I have thought for a long time about the basic premise of capitalism and economics. Thanks to the discussion on Wealth is Always Distributed I have decided to write down my thoughts on the subject. Economics are based on the assumption of scarcity. My observations lead me to believe that the only real scarcity is…

  • Formalism and Details

    I have been thinking about the merits of formalism in our laid-back society. I wonder how many people even have a basic understanding of parliamentary procedure or know what Robert’s rules of order are. I suspect that more people are familiar with the details of table manners than are familiar with the details of how…

  • Wealth is Always Distributed

    I’ve been thinking about the whole distribution of wealth thing and I begin to wonder if it is really a problem. What happens when Alex Rodriguez gets paid $25 million dollars a year? (I pick him because I know his salary) I have heard arguments that if we tax the rich too heavily they will…