Category Archives: Social Issues
What People Do in the Name of God
Throughout the history of mankind wars have been fought, people have been persecuted and genocide has been committed in the name of God or against those of differing religious beliefs. What I do object to is the way religions practitioners often practice it. One thing I am convinced of is that if there is a creator of the universe who is infinitely wise and knowledgeable (omniscient) then one can only rationally conclude that all of creation must be exactly as it was intended. For the creator to say to man that he condemns the actions or belief of certain people and that his believers should punish, destroy, or outlaw their actions in his name is to say that God made a mistake. Continue reading
Posted in Religion, Social Issues
Tagged Creator, God's judgment, God's will, judgement, rational science, sin, vengence
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Much Ado about Going Nowhere
Cars are the primary mode of transportation in the U.S. even for short distances. But there are alternatives to the use of cars if we are willing to get off our seats and use some human power to move ourselves from one place to another. Ironically the U.S. has one of the greatest stores of transportation energy in the world but all we do is accumulate it to great excess. That energy is our body fat which is embarrassingly abundant and a major cause of medical complications such as diabetes, heart and coronary disease, skeletal problems, and added weight that our bodies are not designed to constantly bear. Continue reading
The Price we Pay for Gas in the US
Since the price of oils is a commodity it is fixed everywhere around the world, so the difference people worldwide pay at the pump is based primarily upon the taxes imposed by each state or nation. In general the more wealthy the people are of a nation have the higher the taxes imposed upon fuel. The single most blatant exception is the United States where we have by far the lowest tax rate on gasoline of all the developed nations and most developing nations. Fuel is considered a luxury everywhere else except the United States. Currently the United States federal tax for gasoline is $.0184 per gallon vs. for example Germany where the tax is around $3.50 per gallon or about 20 time higher than the U.S. Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Government, Social Issues, Society
Tagged air pollution, better public transportation, developed nations, gasoline tax, gass guzzling cars, high speed rail, inconvenience of car ownership, oils is a commodity, standard of living, US has lowest gas tax, walking and biking
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Human Rights as I See It
As I see it our values and form of freedom, democracy and government will not work where religion plays a dominating role in every aspect of life. Over the centuries the Western world has developed human rights values that are less based upon religious doctrine than upon a rational right of All human beings to dignity and “…life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. But much of the world is not yet ready. We cannot cram our values down the throats of those unwilling to accept them without long-term consequences. It took us hundreds of years to develop the principles of freedom, democracy, and equality and it did not come without a revolution and much bloodshed. During the Dark Ages we were very much like the very people we are trying to change. Continue reading
Profiling
TV shows, crime movies and novels sometime contain professional law enforcement profilers who are able to characterize the behavior of individuals through body language, habits, and appearance. But we are all amateur profilers. The primary difference between the armature profiling we do and that of professionals is that the professionals have learned through the accumulated knowledge taught in education the psychological makeup of people and how this relates to their physical appearance and behaviors. But where would we all be if we didn’t characterize various physical characteristics and behaviors in people? Profiling is part of our defense mechanism that has socially been built into us to help us differentiate between friend and foe. The problem is that we often profile people based upon one physical characteristic such as skin color or obesity or shape of nose or eyes or beauty or ugliness. Such profiling fails to look as multiple features and behaviors that flaw profiling as a defense mechanism and sometimes makes foes out of friendly people and friends out of devious people. Continue reading
Balance and Harmony
When one looks at nature and the universe one notices that the greatest complexity of atoms and molecules exist at an optimum temperature range between extreme hot and absolute cold. Take for example the universe. In places where the temperature is extremely high such as stars there is much randomness and little order to matter. Atoms exists in extremely unstable states as plasmas where it is so hot that their electrons have been stripped off leaving unstable nuclei of primarily the two simplest atoms, hydrogen with one proton and helium with two. Temperatures are simply too high for stable elements and chemistries to exist. In much cooler areas of the universe such as our planets more complex elements and compounds can form and exist for long periods. Earth is at an optimum temperature that is ideal for extremely complex organic chemistries making possible the formation of life. Continue reading
Patriotism
I feel that I am a true patriot though others may not agree due to my numerous critical comments about our government, our laws, and our social morality. I feel that it is a fool who sees no wrong or an apathetic fool who seeing a wrong but does nothing about it. I see my relationship with this country a little like my relationship with my children or others I deeply love. My love for my loved ones is without question as is my love of my country. But if I see my loved ones doing something I strongly disapprove of I will let them know in no uncertain terms and tell them my reasons. The same goes for my country. Continue reading
If Only Women Were In Charge
Before my retirement I worked in the high-tech industry of Silicon Valley. It was my observation that most successful professional women I’ve known were more assertive and goal oriented, characteristics largely attributed to men. But they were few in numbers. I keep returning to Of Modern Times and the Caveman where I describes how the caveman in us is still ever present. The cave women stayed at the cave to raise the cave family and take care of domestic tasks like skinning game and caring for the cave kids while the cavemen went out hunting for food. In the modern world high level jobs have become largely related to mental focus and aggressive temperament. It is an extremely competitive working world. To get ahead one must be the best or have the drive to fight to be best. I believe that if this world were run by women this would be a far better and more harmonious world. When I say women I mean typical women, not the aggressive over achieving male like women. Continue reading
Patterns of Life
Life and existence are all about structure and patterns. This is actually quite a profound concept. Think about life without patterns. Actually the universe as we know it could not exist without structure and patterns. Patterned structures are what bind the universe together. Science is all about the recognition, study, and modeling of the many patterns and structures that exist in the universe as will as life on earth. The science of psychology studies the patterns of our behaviors and minds. These patterns often seem irrational but there are patterns to our irrational behavior. Criminology is an offshoot of psychology where patterns of the criminal mind are studies and utilized to identify and capture criminals. Weather may seem somewhat unpredictable for some but to the weather scientist who views satellite photos of earth, they can identify patterns of cloud formations. So life is largely about recognizing pattern and making predictions to reduce uncertainties. We make plans and do tasks with varying degrees of confidence based upon our familiar with the patterns of that activity and their potential unpredictability. Continue reading
Posted in Science & Technology, Social Issues, Society
Tagged chaos, order out of chaos, patterns of life, predictable, prepared for the unknown, random, randomness, science, uncertanty
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The Future is Here yet We Remain Unaware
In the newest high tech wafer fabrication facilities where very small amounts of contamination could mean the death of chip making everything is done by robotics and computers. Humans are only there in very limited numbers to maintain the machines. The steps taken to make the hundreds of millions of MOS transistors that are crammed into each memory and CPU chip in our computers, tablets, and cell phones is extraordinarily complex and precise requiring close to absolute cleanliness. So for those in the high tech chip making industry you already know that the future has been here for the last decade or two. If chip making can be fully automated so can just about any industry and manufacturing facility. The technological know-how is already here for automating most other industries. Many have already already been slowly automate and permanently eliminate jobs for decades. Continue reading
A Spoonfull of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down
One would think that in the medical profession there are tons of opportunities to dispense compassion along with medical tests, treatments, and medications. However in my experience I have found the medical profession rather lacking in compassion. I do have one doctor who comes close to what I consider as compassionate but most want to keep you waiting as long as tolerable and get you out of the office as quickly as possible after ever so briefly seeing you and hardly palpating you. Today’s doctors spend less than a minute listening impatiently to what patients have to say then write orders for a battery of blood tests, X-rays, CT scans, etc. and tell you to come back in 3 weeks to discuss results. Continue reading
Are Rules Made to be Broken?
Recently there was news of a 9 year old girl who shaved her head with her parents permission in solidarity for an 11 year old friend who was being treated for stage 4 cancer and had lost all her hair. The 9 year old was suspended from school for violating the dress code [School Reverses Decision To Suspend Girl Who Shaved Her Head For Friend With Cancer] in spite of doing no harm. I have a problem comprehending what drove school administrators to expel a student for doing a good and compassionate deed even if violating a dress code. These administrators seems to be acting quite childish disciplining a child for doing a mature and grownup act. I feel that some common sense needs to be exercised by people when rules are broken. Continue reading
Inequality for All
The other day I viewed the documentary “Inequality for All” by Robert Reich for the first time on NetFlix. I was struck by its similarities to articles I have written in past posts such as The Economic Power of the Middle Class March 19, 2013 and Prosperity is with the Masses September 16, 2013 in terms of the disparity in income between the very rich and the typical middle class as well as the parallel conclusion we both drew that the well being of our economy depends largely upon the ability of a large middle class to spend on goods and services. As a matter of fact our mutual conclusion seems quite self evident so I fail to see why so many people don’t realize this. Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Government, Inequality, Social Issues
Tagged American workers, conomic growth, goods and services, higher upper class taxes, inequaties between the rich and middle class, lower middle class taxes, Middle class, middle class spends, more money for the middle class, rich invest, upper class
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The Job Terminator
We are already experiencing the subtle impact of job terminating technology today. Our tech savvy technologist are turning out new technological innovations at an ever-increasing rate. New generations of cell phone come out ever six months to a year that are each smarter and cheaper than the previous. Other gadgets are being created constantly to satisfy our insatiable appetite for gadgetry and convenience. Ask yourself what can people do that computers are unlikely to do other than screw thing up. Through artificial intelligence computer can learn to get increasingly smart and they never forget anything and some can constantly think billions of times faster than us without rest. So unemployment is no longer as a result of the 2008 crash. It is as a result of outsourcing and automation. Continue reading
Happiness in Happy Societies
We are all familiar with this famous phase from the American Declaration of independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among … Continue reading
Where are all the Women?
Last Saturday, March 8th, was International Women’s Day, a reminder that women’s inequalities still exists in every corner of the world even though women represent half the earth’s population. This is no less true in the United States where our … Continue reading
Science vs. Intelligent Design
Intelligent Design is a theory developed by Christian Creationist to get around the 1st Amendment’s separation of church and state. They devised a rather creative workaround the Constitution by saying that all creation was designed by an intelligent creator. Intelligent … Continue reading
Is Pro-Choice Biblical?
Anti-abortionists say that Pro-Choice means you are pro-abortion and are for killing fetuses. For many Pro-Choice advocates nothing could be further from the truth. Pro-Choice simply meant having the right to choose to have an abortion or not to have … Continue reading
Brawns over Brains in the U.S.
It seems to me that sports here in the U.S. is a dominant pastime. To call it a pastime is even an understatement; perhaps obsession is more appropriate. It dominants our TV newscast, occupying almost as much time as all … Continue reading
Are Jobs Gone for Good?
Job recovery since the 2008 economic meltdown has been sluggish and lagging other economic indicators. Yet industries are making record profits and the stock market has significantly exceeded its highs prior to the economic collapse. Executives are making record salaries … Continue reading
Violence Multiplies Violence in an Endless Spiral
“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” Quote from Dr. … Continue reading
Guns & Bullets vs. Human Rights
I think we often build a tolerance for the things we hear and see frequently. Guns and bullets are almost a way of life. We see daily news about people killed and we tend to take an impersonal view of … Continue reading
Change and the Establishment
There are a few laws of nature that seem to be quite universal even applicable to social systems. A body in motion will remain in motion unless other forces change its speed and direction. Any force will result in an … Continue reading
Can a Case be made for Physician-Assisted Suicide?
I have often wondered whether there would be circumstances where I would prefer not to live and even circumstances whereby I would choose to end my own life. I am not sure if I would have the courage to take … Continue reading
Are We Still In Control?
Man has been controlling his environment since the beginning of time. Unlike most other animals which must evolve to adapt to the gradual changes in their environment man has been able to use his ingenuity to alter his immediate surroundings … Continue reading
Posted in Social Issues, Society
Tagged caveman, Gadget, Mobile phone, modern times, Personal computer, science and technology, standard of living, technology
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ouR Social Conscience 