Joseph Henrich argues that the Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic world got its uniqueness from family codes imposed by the Church in the Early Middle Ages. The key parts of these codes were not restrictions on same-sex marriage or […]
There are many ways of dealing with the current political polarization. But, Fukuyama says, the best is to hope for yet another realignment, where a section of the electorate changes parties and gives one party a clear majority. A friend […]
In the classical Christian church we hear much about our identity in Christ. We also have a host of other identities or roles: parent or child in a family; worker in or owner of an organization; a particular church, denomination, […]
My favorite political scientist, Francis Fukuyama, seems to have a blind spot about the character of bureaucrats and public employees, failing to see that they are just as ‘patrimonial’, a word he uses a lot, as any other interest group. […]
This essay summarizes some of Francis Fukuyama’s historical perspective and insights on the problem ‘patrimonialism’ and its effect on society. I briefly suggest some ways to address patrimonialism, and also identify factors that shape patrimonialism in California and elsewhere. According […]
Libertarians have much to contribute to the discussions of social justice. But their main contributions – rule of law, opposition to cronyism, ‘by right’ land use, the problem of planning and knowledge, the issue of ‘public choice’ or how we […]
Among its other oddities, Hawaii has no water level travel between its islands. If the inhabitants of four out of the five counties should wish to travel to Honolulu, they have to fly in a small plane and rent another […]
My apologies for my long silence. I was gone for five weeks, mainly on my wife’s business, but the last portion of the trip was a journey through the north of Greece looking mostly at painted churches. I should start […]
A philosophy called ‘communitarianism’ has often been proposed recently as an alternative to the growing libertarianism of our time. This philosophy, they say, can combine social conservatism and economic moderation, as well as potentially reviving an emphasis on the local […]
Newgeography.com, one of my favorite sites, has deviated from its usual agenda to post this post on what I have called the “donorcracy.” The pursuit of money is more important to every person pursuing electoral office than the pursuit of […]