Academic Perspective

The recent heavy snowfall in the Washington D.C. area has given rise to some alarmingly naive comments from conservative pundits and Republican senators. America has come to expect the kind of shaky logic being used from Limbaugh, Hannity, and the rest of the conservative media cohort, but it is frankly distressing to hear Senators Jim [...]

With the first month of 2010 coming to a close, we’re back to present the final chapter of the Year in Review 2009. Pop culture and the media. 2009 was a year of media frenzies. The White House engaged in a battle against Fox news, which it described as more like “talk-radio” than a news organization. [...]

With a new president, Barack Obama, Congress set out to tackle the president’s two biggest goals: to repair the economy and pass healthcare reform. A year later, new healthcare bills have been passed and the economy is on its way to recovery. But all these changes happened with no shortage of fanfare. 2009 was marked by raucous healthcare debate, media controversies, and economic turmoil. [...]

Every December 25th, Christians in America celebrate the biggest religious holiday of the year, Christmas. And much of non-Christian America celebrates along with them, albeit a little guiltily.
Coming from an atheist family, I am one of the many non-Christians who celebrates Christmas every December. We don’t believe in Jesus. We don’t believe in the Bible. [...]

2009 was not exactly the most memorable year. If anything, it’s notable for being one of the gloomiest years of late. Bank accounts are drying up, foreclosures are through the roof, and unemployment is the highest its been in nearly three decades. In all parts of the world, there aren’t many who can look back [...]

Since it became clear that the U.S. was in the midst of an economic recession in 2008, the federal government has invested trillions to promote economic stability and, eventually, growth. These investments can be classified into two primary categories: bank bailouts and broader economic stimulus. [...]

Ads on every TV, radio, billboard, newspaper and magazine all say the same thing come December—it’s the most wonderful time of the year. It’s wonderful for everyone; wonderful for the companies that sell presents that then advertise them, wonderful for the various media outlets that get money for those advertisements, wonderful for the parents that get [...]

Reconsidering Socialism as a Solution, not a System

“All socialist utopias come to grief with roast beef and apple pie”  - German sociologist Werner Sombart, 1905

Americans like getting what they want, when they want it. They like their roast beef and apple pie. They don’t like socialism.
Why not? Because when we have food on the table as a result of two centuries [...]

After pledging his honesty to the American people by being forthright about tax hikes in the 1984 presidential race, Walter Mondale went on to receive the lowest number of electoral votes in the history of the Democratic Party. A rare attempt at honest politics failed miserably. But despite the evidence which demonstrates that honest politicians never prevail, voters continue to expect truthfulness and are aghast when two years down the road few of the politician’s original promises have been fulfilled. [...]

In a pledge to the United Nations, the U.S. Military and the Pentagon both promised that U.S. citizens under the age of 17 would not be targeted for military recruitment. Despite these promises, America continues to sell the highly profitable business of warfare to its youth. With President Obama having recently committed another 30,000 troops [...]