Truth, Power, Coercion, Acquiescence

Michel Foucault, and his Truth and Power philosophy seems to have become very trendy lately — even though it’s over half a century old. It must be that we’re looking for a new epistemology as we move through the 21st century!

Bureaucracy Is (or Should Be) Your Friend

Hobbes to Weber to Trotsky … and Beyond? Over the last few decades in America, and perhaps elsewhere, “bureaucracy” and “bureaucrat” have taken on a pejorative connotation. Why is that? The basic idea of the word (from the French for, literally, a desk) is to describe organizational structures which serve the interests of a leader.Continue reading “Bureaucracy Is (or Should Be) Your Friend”

Labor Productivity

People oversimplify the idea of productivity, and the basic concept is pretty simple (Productivity = Output/Input). But the modern world economy, due to technology, social forces, etc. makes the definition of “productivity” a bit more interesting …

Whither the American EV Market in 2025?

Uncertainty and Hope Donald Trump and Elon Musk promise a cloudy picture for the future of EVs in the U.S. market. The combination of open hostility to EVs and “woke climate” concerns mixed with obviously transactional financial reasoning (Musk’s original claim to wealth!) leaves us scratching our heads about the near-term direction of the autoContinue reading “Whither the American EV Market in 2025?”

I’m Done with the 2024 Elections

There are so many reasons for Trump’s re-election. I’m picking one to hang my hat on — the new class struggle in the country. It’s based on the educational divide. Also, Dems need some more convincing, younger communicators …

Amending “The World in 2124”

… Am I Still Optimistic? Last April, I wrote a Warp & Woof piece entitled: The World in 2124 … I’m Cautiously Optimistic. Much has happened in the world since then. Has the optimism of my “medium-term” prediction for the next 100 years diminished? The main events, from a historical perspective, that transpired in subsequentContinue reading “Amending “The World in 2124””

Clausewitz Was Wrong

No, I’m not disputing the famous Carl von Clausewitz aphorism: “War is merely the continuation of policy by additional means.” It’s hard to disagree with that – regardless of whether you translate the German “politik” as policy, politics, or diplomacy. The statement is self-evident from our historical experience. Clausewitz, however, was establishing a dialectical tensionContinue reading “Clausewitz Was Wrong”