Should I Be Afraid?

I read a story on NBCConnecticut.com entitled “Democratic-Backed Connecticut Bill Would Ban ‘Latinx’ Term“. The thing that caught my eye was that the Democrats were introducing the bill. Recently, Arkansas adopted a measure that bans ‘Latinx’ from government documents, but that was an anti-woke move by the Republicans. This is different. A group of five…

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Is Modern Technology Bad for Us?

I’ve been hearing it my whole life, television rots your brain. Video games are worse. And now that we have screens, we’re doomed. Thanks to these technologies, people no longer have attention spans. People are lazy. The ability to memorize is gone. Actually, all learning and thinking is in danger. At least that’s what they…

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A Missed Opportunity

China and Japan have been in the news recently for the same reason. They both have shrinking, and aging, populations. The reactions of both countries have been similar, too. They are looking for ways to increase their populations. Since neither country is immigration friendly, they are trying to do it through increased births. China’s population…

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Repenters, Repressors, and PoC Intelligentsia

Liam Kofi Bright wrote a fascinating article called “White Psycodrama”. (Available here: White Psychodrama Final Version (philarchive.org)) In it, he describes three archetypes involved in the culture wars: Repenters, Repressors, and PoC Intelligentsia. He argues that the culture wars make us all worse and that the only way to improve things is to opt out…

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What’s Really Happening Around the World?

I’ve been following the news about the protests in Iran, mostly because police brutality is a subject I’m interested in and write about regularly. But it’s been hard to discern exactly what’s going on there because of the breathless way that American news commentators have talked about them. One phrase that’s continually thrown around is…

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Authentic Cuisine

Certain people are really concerned with authenticity. For them, it’s a point of pride. When they eat Italian or Chinese or French food, they don’t want the Americanized versions. They want the “real” thing. Only, as my brother pointed out to me recently, it’s hard to say what the real thing is. Take Italian and…

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