Academic Perspective

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 [...]

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 [...]

The healthcare debate this summer was marked by raucous shouting, grandstanding, and distortions of the plans being considered, but out of it emerged a healthcare proposal that has already passed in the House of Representatives and is currently under consideration in the Senate. [...]

Back in elementary school there was a program for the “gifted and talented” math students called Enrichment. We were given the opportunity to proudly tell our teachers, in front of the entire class, “Excuse me, it’s 2:15. I have to go to Enrichment now.” There, we worked on logic matrices or converting the standard, base [...]

Religious extremism manifests itself in many ways, some more harmless in nature than others. While the media portrays Islam as a religion comprised primarily of extremists, it is not. All religions are plagued by factions which twist religious principles to justify hate and violence, not just Islam. In fact, a Christian extremist group resides right here [...]

We all know that the American economy has taken a bit of a hit over the past year or so. Unemployment is dancing around double digits, home values have fallen drastically, and people run around wildly pointing fingers. This is the standard we’ve all come to know and love. So when some unexpected reversal of [...]

It was an awfully brisk night in January, not seven days removed from the New Year’s beginning. We had been staying with a family friend as my mom had given up our house. They gave us a lift to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, not far from Nairobi, the capital. I remember how stressed my mother [...]

In the early years a child spends in school, nothing is emphasized more than his ability to read. Reading ability is frequently the sole determinant of a teacher’s perception of the child’s intelligence. But most importantly, the development of reading skills promotes a wider vocabulary and gives the child the initial taste of formal English [...]

Nearly a year in office plagued by the economic collapse and now focused on the fiery debate over health care reform has largely distracted the Obama Administration from focusing on education reform. However, this past week the President spoke in Wisconsin exclusively about the topic, hoping to convey the message that Americans must remain committed to the cause…