John Locke was one of the most influential thinkers of the European Enlightenment, whose works became central to the U.S. Constitution.
What he says here is worth noting, given the close brush we just had with the demotion of law and the retrogression into authoritarianism.
A reader asked me to comment on this article featuring the promise of a “hybrid triplane” design that could be put into place by 2030, offering very low-cost intercity travel– “airfares cheaper than rail.” The plane (see artist’s rendering) has a total capacity of 19 passengers.
I honestly can’t think of a single thing that makes this at all credible. Air travel has to be safe, and closely monitored by government agencies. Even if the cost of fuel can be reduced, as is the claim, this will have very little effect on the overall cost per passenger.
This is akin to the piece I published about a month ago on the company that is developing personalized single person aircraft that it claims will replace automobile commuting to and from work. In other words, the skies will soon be filled with tens of millions of little airplanes piloted by people with 30-minutes’ virtual reality training and no pilot’s license. If that seems feasible, I’m not sure what to tell you.
Public support for labor unions is as high as it’s been in more that 50 years. This is an indication that voters understand that the common American is being ground into the pavement by the cruelty of the corporate world and is pushing back with all its might.
FWIW, I’ve never been able to understand people’s enmity to organized labor. Management’s job is to squeeze workers; unions enable workers to push back. Seems only fair to me.
ExxonMobil posted profits of $5.5 billion in Q2, more than twice that of Q1. Some people are calling for a windfall profits tax that would address the high price of gasoline.
Unfortunately, the fossil fuel industry, ExxonMobil in particular, is against the idea, so it has no more chance of passing than a law protecting our children from assault weapons.
Big Money wins. Exceptions are few.
I normally don’t write posts that feature gross generalities like that contained in the meme here, but this was too good to pass up.
I’m afraid it’s true, and that, deep inside all of us, we know that as well.
American toddlers in the mid-1950s wore “baby shoes” like the pair shown here.
It turned out that the theory that young feet needed external support in order to walk properly was later discredited.
Yet, to have insinuated itself into our belief system at the time, there must have been some scientific evidence. That’s more than you can say for so many ideas we encounter all around us today.
BTW, who believes that modern parents don’t care about their children’s health?
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
From this piece on Trump’s acrimony re: mainstream reporting:
The board that administers Pulitzer Prizes denied former President Trump’s request to revoke the prizes that the Washington Post and the New York Times won in 2018 for their reports on the Trump campaign and his administration’s ties to Russian interference in the presidential election. (more…)
When my kids were little, I explained a summary of American politics to them like this:
If you have an honest concern for everyone on this planet, now and into the future, you’re a Democrat. This means you believe that government needs to help with things like good education, clean air and water, and healthcare. (more…)
A reader notes: “Go home now…We love you…You’re very special.” Q. Is that something you would say to somebody who just attacked your house??
Perhaps indeed.
Keep in mind, however that voters in states that are economic and moral hellholes are almost completely unconcerned about “quality of life” as you and I might define it. They want their state white, Christian, deregulated, science-blind, and patriarchal, and as long as that’s in place, their senators can do whatever they want.
