Category Archives: Politics

February 19, 2023

Disbelief

When I was in college (multiple lifetimes ago) I took a class where we studied the nature of belief and disbelief. It was actually a class about logic and situational analysis, but (despite being raised Lutheran) I attended a Jesuit college, so the emphasis on belief versus disbelief was well aligned with their gestalt.

I loved the class (for many reasons, not all of them scholastic). The topic of what we believe — or disbelieve — has fascinated me ever since. It’s a key branch of philosophy under the umbrella of epistemology, the theory of knowledge.

Because our beliefs affect everything from science to politics to personal relations.

5 Comments | tags: belief, epistemology, ideas and beliefs | posted in Philosophy, Politics, Society

February 9, 2023

Grandpa Came to Play!

By Wyrd Smythe

Somewhen in 2020 I decided, for my own peace of mind, to eliminate news and especially politics from my life. The former has become utterly vapid and useless (extra especially any form of TV news), and the latter has become disgustingly polarized and pointless. I genuinely haven’t missed either, not one iota.

But two things combined to make me seek out a stream of President Biden’s State of the Union address this past Tuesday. Firstly, this post of mine from 2016, about President Obama’s last SOTU address, got a bunch of hits. Secondly, there were accounts that it was pretty awesome.

And, in more ways than one, indeed it was.

5 Comments | tags: Joe Biden, President Biden, State of the Union | posted in Politics, Rant

February 12, 2021

Knowing Left from Right

By Wyrd Smythe

I’m feeling outraged and depressed (because politics), plus it’s up to -2 outside (from -10 this morning), so I’m feeling very lazy about writing a post. (And I’m going to have to go out into the chill and shovel the light snowfall off my sidewalk and driveway. Brr!)

Therefore I’m offering up a lightly edited political piece I’ve had sitting in my folder of potential posts… since 2012. Which makes it both outdated and yet oddly still relevant. It’s a short piece, originally intended to be a Brain Bubble, but I’m just going to throw it out there as a regular post.

It’s a rumination on the differences between Left and Right in politics.

10 Comments | tags: conservative, Democrat, progressive, Republican | posted in Politics

February 11, 2021

Huxley Revisited

By Wyrd Smythe

British author and philosopher Aldous Huxley blew my mind with what seemed like his incredible prescience in Brave New World (1932). In my post last December, thinking about our recent politics and social tone, I commented: “For a novel written 88 years ago, it’s surprisingly prescient and relevant.”

The novel impressed me so much I bought the series of essays Huxley published almost 30 years later, Brave New World Revisited (1959). So far, I’ve only read the first five (so many distractions these days), but the apparent prescience continues to astound and astonish me.

I qualify that with “apparent” because it’s actually as old as humanity.

7 Comments | tags: Aldous Huxley, Brave New World | posted in Politics, Society

February 3, 2021

Infection Wow

By Wyrd Smythe

The Wednesday Wow posts have been a bit off the beam recently. Four weeks ago we were wowed (but not in a good way) by an incited insurrection by an incompetent imbecile. Two weeks ago we were wowed (in a great way) by the inclusive Inauguration of the incoming Individual.

With all that more or less behind us, I have time to be wowed by interesting (and depressing) information about the insidious infection infesting the country and the world. I mention both because I became intrigued by difference between them.

It all started when I noticed the COVID-19 graphic on CNN.

8 Comments | tags: charts, COVID-19, graphs | posted in Politics, Society, Wednesday Wow

January 20, 2021

Inauguration Wow

By Wyrd Smythe

Today the sun simultaneously set and rose. We had our own democratic version of: “The King is dead! Long live the King!” (An old phrase apt given the deposed would-be kinglet.)

I imagine many of us will go to sleep happier tonight than we have in years.

17 Comments | tags: Amanda Gorman, Amy Klobuchar, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, President Biden, Presidential Inauguration, Vice-President Harris | posted in Politics, Wednesday Wow

January 20, 2021

Two Weeks Later

By Wyrd Smythe

At long last we can be proud to have humans leading our nation again.

At long last we can finally breath again.

15 Comments | tags: Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, President Biden, Presidential Inauguration | posted in Politics

November 11, 2020

The Big Divide

By Wyrd Smythe

I keep thinking about the 71+ million Americans who voted against nearly everything American has stood for until the last few years. Our Continental Divide may be beautiful to behold, but our National Divide is an ugly disgrace to normative values.

At least they have been our values until now.

22 Comments | tags: conservative, Democrat, Democratic Party, election 2020, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Never Trump, progressive, Republican, Republican Party | posted in Politics, Society

November 8, 2020

The Big Dogs

By Wyrd Smythe

And congrats to the First Dogs (elect), Very Good Boys Champ and Major.

How great to have four-legged furry friends back in the White House! (I’ve long thought a love of dogs and a good character are correlated. Guess which POTUS hates dogs.)

Stay with dogs, my friends! Go forth and spread beauty and light.

∇

3 Comments | tags: dogs, Joe Biden | posted in Politics

November 7, 2020