Saturday, March 18, 2017

Items of Interest: Third Week of Great Lent

Minding Matter
by Adam Frank (Aeon). «The closer you look, the more the materialist position in physics appears to rest on shaky metaphysical ground...Rather than trying to sweep away the mystery of mind by attributing it to the mechanisms of matter, we must grapple with the intertwined nature of the two.»

Why Politics Is Failing America
by Katherine M. Gehl & Michael E. Porter (Fortune). «Why is the political-industrial complex flourishing while its customers are less satisfied than ever? To answer that question, we’ve applied the tools of business analysis to American politics. Our conclusion: U.S. politics is an industry—a duopoly that’s about as anticompetitive as you’re likely to find these days. The result, as a prominent 2014 study by Princeton’s ­Martin Gilens and Northwestern’s Benjamin Page shows, is that the preferences of the average voter have a near-zero impact on public policy.»

The Great God Trump and the White Working Class
by Mike Davis (Jacobin). An extraordinary restructuring of political camps, cadre, and patronage is taking place in an atmosphere of chaos and uncertainty, but we need to understand more clearly whether 2016 actually reflects, or necessarily anticipates, a fundamental realignment of social forces.

Why all Christians should oppose the ‹Alt-Right›
by Robert Christian and Daniel Petri (Crux). «The threat this movement poses to foundational American values and the key tenets of the Christian faith are so grave that Christians across the political spectrum should join together with other responsible citizens in opposing its pernicious influence and corrosion of our national character.»

6 Things Paul Ryan Doesn’t Understand About Poverty (But I Didn’t, Either)
by Karen Weese (Alternet). «There are many prescriptions for combating poverty, but we can’t even get started unless we first examine our assumptions, and take the time to envision what the world feels like for families living in poverty every day. ‹Compassion is a skill that we get better at with practice,› writes theologian Karen Armstrong. It just takes a little imagination.»

No comments:

Post a Comment