2022
America needs to stop being ‘exceptional...
2022
America is one of the last countries without paid maternity leave. (Photo by Bonnie Kittle on Unsplash) From the second a child is born, a parent’s entire world changes. Everything revolves around the new baby and there is nothing they wouldn’t sacrifice for it. Yet, within days of bringing a new life into the world, mothers and fathers...
Disrupting the duopoly
2022
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash In America, the duopoly — the Republican and Democratic parties which dominate politics — is ripe for disruption. Dissatisfaction reached record highs as Joe Biden took the oath of office in January 2021, with 50% of Americans identifying as independents and just 25% identifying with each of the major parties. Yet these...
Prison reform is necessary to establish ...
2022
To end mass incarceration, the US needs a series of prison reforms. (Rennett Stowe, Flickr) The Preamble to the Constitution demands that we “establish justice.” Any honest look at the US prison system reveals how pitifully we are failing in that duty. We can do better in 2022 by uniting as voters and demanding specific...
Fixing qualified immunity
2022
Credit: WZZM/Rose White Last week, the US Supreme Court reinforced its support for qualified immunity, the legal doctrine that has been widely criticized for protecting police officers who abuse their authority or behave irresponsibly. The simplest method for reform remains with Congress; the legislative package supported by the American Union in 2022 will clarify the underlying law and...
Applying Dr. King’s six philosophi...
2022
Rev. Martin Luther King press conference / World Telegram & Sun photo by Dick DeMarsico. Created / Published July 30, 1964. (Library of Congress) April 4, 2022, marks 54 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on his balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. King had gone there for the second time...
Everyone’s talking about a digital US do...
2022
A digital US dollar could be used to address poverty and income inequality. (Image: Kurtis Garbutt, CC 2.0 ) Digital currencies are everywhere these days. If it’s not Bitcoin, Ethereum, or one of the other 12,000 cryptocurrencies, it’s the increased talk about state-sponsored central bank digital currencies, or CBDC. More than two dozen countries have launched digital...
Lessons from Pearl Harbor
2022
Ships burn during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Photo: Wikimedia Commons After the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt said that December 7th, 1941, was “a day which will live in infamy.” Eighty years later, his prediction seems to be holding up well. The geopolitical effects of America joining World War Two are well...
How to enjoy anchovy ice cream
2022
Photo by Valeriia Miller from Pexels Imagine you have two ice cream shops in your town. You go to the first and when you get to the counter, you’re told they only have one flavor: anchovy. So, you go across town to the other shop, but find out their only flavor is Spam. Maybe you’re into Spam. Or...
Reducing the threat of nuclear war
2022
A 2017 Minuteman III ICBM test launch. (Photo: Ian Dudley / US Air Force) On January 3, 2022, Russia, China, France, the UK, and the United States issued a joint statement on “preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms races.” In it, they agreed on “the ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons” and affirmed a...
An open letter to candidates for Federal...
2022
Photo by Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash Dear candidates for federal office, The coronavirus pandemic has burned up our social contract, but like a phoenix, we can emerge from the ashes as a nation reborn. The guidance for such a transformation can be found in the Constitution, and the five duties of all Americans contained in the preamble. Inspired...