Category: Politics
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The Stupidity of Daylight Saving Time
It’s that time again, at least here in the US. I rant about DST because there is something fundamentally wrong with how we do it. And proposed solutions are even worse. Nothing infuriates me quite like the stupidity of fixing a mistake with an even bigger mistake. In order to make the choices more clear,…
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Money
A while back I posted a story called the Lemonade Stand. Here I want to explain more explicitly some of the ideas behind that post. Most people will probably find these ideas non-intuitive. The economy is really about natural resources and things people do with them. This includes farming, which is the activity that matters…
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Daylight Saving Time
Some congress people are proposing to make DST permanent. This is a case of totally missing the point. In ascending order of stupidity, here are the main choices the country has: Permanent standard time. Adjust time on reasonable dates (see below) Permanent DST The system we have now When congress last meddled with it (2005),…
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Reparations
Here’s a little thought experiment: Suppose person A lives in a valley on good land and enjoys prosperity. Then person B comes into the valley. Because B is stronger, it takes over all the good land, forcing A to live on the worst land. Conditions are so bad that A is barely able to survive.…
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Belief in Democracy
A few months ago I considered making a post that asked the following question: “If Trump announced that he is suspending the constitution, dissolving congress, and that he is the only authority, would you still follow him?” My guess was that about 5-10 of my more extreme social-media friends would have actually said yes. Then…
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True Patriotism
I read a news article about pockets of people who are ready to kill in the name of Trump. This is chilling and dystopic, but I have to remind myself that it doesn’t mean the entire conservative half of our country is about to turn violent. There’s a whole gradation of opinion, and I believe…
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Institutions
Institutions exist because people believe in them. Take for example the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Why does this institution have power to do anything? It’s just 9 people sitting in a room. Why should what they say matter to anyone? It matters because hundreds of millions of people believe in that…
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Civil Discussions
I was just reading a thread on social media about COVID, masking, etc. Some of the messages were from people who believe this should only be about science, and yet the messages turned into personal attacks, accusing the other side of being selfish and willfully ignorant. It used to be that we keep comments like…
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Lemonade Stand
During an election year our longstanding policy disputes come to the fore. Many of these boil down to how we distribute the benefits of our economic system. I find the arguments and positions confusing, so I formed a thought experiment on the matter … Billy discovers a way to sell lemonade for $5/cup. He opens…
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Empathy
Trying to understand people who don’t understand is a kind of mind-trip. I believe it’s important to empathize with others and try to see things from their point of view. But some people lack empathy and don’t accept other points of view. How can I understand this way of thinking? The very act of trying…