Will We Keep Our Republic?

Benjamin Franklin

Ben Franklin famously said, “You’ve got a republic, if you can keep it.” That warning is particularly haunting now, because we seem on the verge of losing it – not from foreign invasion – not from revolution – but because we stopped caring about it.

A Republic, If We Can Keep It.

Benjamin Franklin

I am certainly no classical scholar, I leave that to men like Victor Davis Hansen whom I greatly admire. But I have read some of the ancients. And truth be known, they were prescient in their thoughts. And eternal in their wisdom. We simply haven’t, and don’t, pay attention. So the following offers a few …

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The Tragedy of the Commons, Part 3: Wicked Logic

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 …

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Transurrection Part II

Part one of Montana’s Transurrection is the only accurate eyewitness account of what happened in the Montana legislature when radical leftists showed their willingness to act violently and disrupt the business of all Montanans on April 24th. In part one, I described what I witnessed outside the Capitol building and then in the House gallery. …

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The Tragedy of the Commons: The Rational Actor

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of ...

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 …

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Tragedy of the Commons: The Political Commons

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 …

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It’s For The Kids!

Imagine a typical North Idaho family, Shawn and Jane Doe and their three children Mary, Mike and Becky. Shawn is the assistant manager at a local division of a national company. The Doe family is a comfortable, middle class family and happy, but money seems tight. Jane has been pestering Shawn to ask for a …

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If You’re Scared, Say You’re Scared. But Don’t Be Afraid of Stupid Stuff.

That things get stupid following a mass shooting, such as the one in Louisville, or school shooting like the one in Nashville, is expected. But there’s a point at which stupidity gets squared. From The Philadelphia Inquirer: Parents say Bala Cynwyd fifth graders texted about who should be shot in the next school shooting “Everyday …

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