Citizen Writers Fighting Censorship by Helping Americans Understand Issues Affecting the Republic.
Jeffery Marshall Ed.D., BG(R) 
Why do we act in other than our self-interest? Is the rational actor/choice theory valid? Over a few blog entries (see the Defending the Republic series), I have wondered why people who do not seem to benefit from social justice efforts support and endorse them. Why would a white male push an agenda designed to …
Defending the Republic: Scenario 2 Policy Domination Defending the Republic, Part 1: Introduction provided a general introduction and an initial listing and description of the scenarios. The second part looked at the three variants of the Regulatory Capture scenario. Both asked why corporations are enacting social justice programs. The two blogs suggested that at …
Defending the Republic: Scenario 1 Regulatory Capture In Defending the Republic, Part 1: Introduction, I listed three potential threat scenarios. The first, regulatory capture is playing out now. While it seems to be the least threatening scenario, that may be a bit of an illusion. The regulatory capture scenario has 3 sub-scenarios, depending on the …
The Tragedy of the Commons: Wicked Logic In The Tragedy of the Commons: Rational Actors, I discussed linear vs. spiral logic. I suggested that western logic tended to be more linear and Islamic and other cultures, perhaps more spiral. But that is a generalization based on today’s conditions. In the past, western logic tended …
The Tragedy of the Commons: Rational Actor This is a follow on to Tragedy of the Commons: The Political Commons. It specifically looks at the rationality implied in Ostrom’s 8 points and the Rational Actor/Choice, Game, and Agency theories. What happens if the rational hypothesis fails or is different across cultures or relevant ranges? I …
The Tragedy of the Commons: The Political Commons I first came across the problem (tragedy) of the commons in a political science course in grad school. We read a remarkable work by Elinor Ostrom about the problem. Her work both resonated with me and left me looking for more. I thought the problem was bigger …
Defending The Republic, Part 1: Scenarios Over the last year, I’ve been thinking, researching, and writing (Corporatism Part 1, Part 2; Thoughts on Ukraine, Part 7: The Joint Corporatist Scenario, among others) a lot about corporatism. I’ve been searching for a reason why corporations are doing what they are doing with social justice agendas. Why …
DIE Hydra! The image above is above is Heracles and nephew Iolaus fighting the hydra. This was Heracles second of twelve labors. The hydra had nine heads and when Heracles destroyed one, another sprouted in its place. Heracles and Iolaus found that if Heracles destroyed a head and Iolaus burned it quickly, the head …
Critical Thinking and International Relations Theory After the Colonial era, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the First Gulf War, many analysts proclaimed the world was getting safer and humanity was changing for the better. Francis Fukuyama argued this point. Samuel Huntington took a different perspective and argued a clash of civilizations would keep …
Critical Thinking: Correlation, Causation, and Control During the fall, I like to step on acorn shells and crack them. There is a satisfying crunch sound that helps to break the monotony of several miles on the neighborhood trails. I understand it is a silly thing to do, but like I said, walking can be boring …
Critical Thinking and Policy: The Wars on Drugs and Poverty In an effective government, the first rule of policy is to set goals and the implementing processes to accomplish them. Politicians and the bureaucracy, however, run the government. The first rule of politicians is to get re-elected. The first rule of bureaucrats is to perpetuate …
Virginia Board of Education: Transgender Policy Part 1 This blog builds on Critical Thinking and Policy Development and Analysis, Critical Thinking: Logic and Rationality, Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Key Components and Dimensions, Critical Thinking: Bounded Rationality and Time, Critical Thinking: Credence and Veracity, and A Solutions-Based Approach to Social Justice. These help look at …
Critical Thinking: Credence and Veracity Critical Thinking and Policy Development and Analysis introduced the concepts of credence and veracity and said they were two sides of the same coin. The coin’s value depends on its credence and veracity. The figure above aligns credence with the messenger and veracity with the message. It also adds …
Critical Thinking and Policy Development and Analysis This blog builds upon Part 4: Policy Development. It is the opening part of a series on critical thinking and policy development and analysis. It provides the framework, as shown in the opening figure, for policy development and analysis. Following parts will use this framework to assess some …
Identifying and tracking biases in decision-making The screen shot shows how to identify and track the mitigation of biases. The bias type comes from a list of typical cognitive biases. Note, they are aligned to a strategy/plan and a decision. The form provides the capability to discuss the bias, its impact(s), and mitigation means. This …
Critical Thinking: Logic and Rationality This blog builds on Critical Thinking: Decisions and System 1 and System 2 Thinking. If you are unfamiliar with these concepts, you may want to review this piece. Citizens of the Republic own the Republic. Not politicians, Congressional staffers, or regulators. But we often lose sight of this salient issue …
Critical Thinking: Decisions and System1 System2 Thinking Figure 1 Integrated System 1 and System 2 Approach Daniel Kahneman identified System 1 and System 2 as two different ways to think through issues and solve problems. System 1 is quick and intuitive. System 2 is slower and process knowledge driven. Good teams fuse the two …
Critical Thinking: Bounded Rationality and Time Time is one component of bounded rationality. The Bounded Rationality Model (see the introduction to this series) includes cognitive limitations and information/knowledge quality. Severe time constraints can drive a decision to System 1 approaches, with the decision based on assumptions, heuristics, and intuition. Some organizations “punt” and refuse to …
Critical Thinking: Introduction to Key Components and Dimensions This series will address the components and dimensions of the figure above. The first installment summarizes the critical thinking framework. Subsequent installments will look at the components and dimensions in greater detail. This is an important and complex topic. The environment in which our government and corporations …
Bread and Circuses: Largesse Favors the Timid If Fortune favors the bold, largess favors the timid. Largesse allows people to settle for less to avoid work, inhibits risk-taking, and dampens the drive to grow and to thrive. The bread and circuses approach to governance distracts a people of low virtue into a stupor where they …