Author Archives: admin

The Republican Party – the Party of Cognitive Dissonance

Posted on May 1, 2016 by admin

Georg Hegel (1770-1831) who saw a world governed by individual self-interest believed that we are controlled by external forces, and are nothing but pawns in the game. Hegel believed that we do not perceive the world or anything in it … Continue reading →

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We Are Unable To Reach Our Full Capacity to Make Wise Decisions

Posted on April 1, 2016 by admin

We live in a world of illusion. While many believe they have special access to the truth, the reality is that we all see the world not as it is, but as we want it to be. What began in … Continue reading →

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Part 2 of 2: Creating Opportunities: A Comparison of Top-down and Bottom-up Systems

Posted on March 1, 2016 by admin

Top-down systems tend to deal with the abstract while bottom-up systems deal with ‘facts on the ground’. Darwin’s bottom-up view of evolution is part of the Theory of Natural Selection. Charles Darwin was not the first person to use the … Continue reading →

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Part 1 of 2. Creating Opportunities: A Comparison of Top-down and Bottom–up Systems

Posted on February 1, 2016 by admin

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), a political philosopher and essayist, described an endemic moral inequality that was related to power and wealth. As men come together, Rousseau claimed, there is a drive to compare themselves to others – driving men to seek … Continue reading →

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On the Rationalization of Inequality

Posted on January 1, 2016 by admin

Voltaire observed, “One day everything will be well. Everything is fine today. That is our illusion.” Illusion is the ability to manipulate how other people perceive reality. What began in September 2011 as a small group of protesters camping out … Continue reading →

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Part 2 of 2: The Class System and Education

Posted on December 1, 2015 by admin

Most social scientists in the U.S. agree that society is stratified into social classes. Social classes are hierarchical groupings of individuals that are usually based on wealth, educational attainment, occupation, income, or membership in a subculture or social network. The … Continue reading →

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Part 1 of 2. The Class System and Education

Posted on November 1, 2015 by admin

The value referred to as the American Dream is indicative of the American social class system. The American Dream reflects what we see as the kind of equality of opportunity that can exist only in a class system. Americans believe … Continue reading →

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Part 2 of 2: A Paradigm Shift

Posted on October 1, 2015 by admin

During the early 1900s participants of the Progressive movement were troubled by the plight of the urban poor. They worried that the ‘promise’ of the American system did not extend evenly (Rothman 1980) to all segments of society – it … Continue reading →

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Part 1 of 2. A Paradigm Shift

Posted on September 1, 2015 by admin

In the 19th century Hegel developed a theory to explain historical development as a dynamic process. This not only enforces the concept that conflicts are not bad, but good for generating understanding. According to Hegel it goes a step further, … Continue reading →

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Part 2 of 2. Dare to Think

Posted on August 1, 2015 by admin

During the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests neither the oligarchs nor the bankers found it necessary to respond. The rationale for this attitude has been around for years. Ayn Rand (1905-1982), a novelist and philosopher who developed a philosophical system … Continue reading →

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