Archive for the ‘American current affairs’ Category
What is American exceptionalism?
January 17th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
In my web site essay “A Short Guide To The American Political System”, I mention the notion of American exceptionalism. When he read my latest up-date of this essay, my astute American friend Michael Grace picked up on my reference to American exceptionalism and made some interesting remarks on the notion in the context of […]
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How to think critically
January 11th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
The United States Naval War College at Newport, Rhode island has just approached me for copyright permission to reproduce my web site advice on “How To Think Critically”. Of course, I was happy to agree. If it’s good enough advice for the US military, you might want to check it out here.
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So who is Rick Santorum?
January 5th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
The Republican primary race has been bizarre for the constant media effort to promote the chances of someone who can beat the front-runner Mitt Romney. In turn, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Newt Gringrich have been favoured and then crashed. I have even heard the suggestion that Florida Governor Jeb Bush is waiting […]
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Will Obama win a second term?
December 4th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
I certainly hope so, but it’s far from a foregone conclusion. I was speaking earlier this week to a British guy who now lives in the USA and always votes Democrat and he was explaining to me how seriously Obama has disappointed his electoral base. The critical issue, of course, is the economy and the […]
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Who is Grover Norquist?
November 23rd, 2011 by Roger Darlington
The United States is suffering a ballooning budget deficit that threatens the stability of the world’s largest economy and therefore the global economy itself. In the face of such a challenge, most countries would see the obvious solution as a mixture of cuts in public expenditure and increases in taxes with tax hikes focused on […]
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Why is America’s political system so dysfunctional? (2)
November 20th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
Just over a week ago, I did a posting about why I thought the United States political system was broken. I invited comments, expected some, and received none. Well, in the past week, the US Congress took a decision that highlighted the absurdity and sadness of the present political impasse. It decided that the tomato […]
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Can you remember three things?
November 11th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
If so, you could be a United States presidential candidate. You couldn’t be worse than this one:
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Why is America’s political system so dysfunctional? (1)
November 9th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
I was recently discussing with an American friend some of the problems with the American political system and I advanced an argument that i should like to share with you and test on you. The fundamental components of my argument are as follows: The American political system is seriously dysfunctional This is not the fault […]
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The high price of excessive inequality
November 8th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
“If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire. The claims that the ultra-rich 1% make for themselves – that they are possessed of unique intelligence or creativity or drive – are examples of the self-attribution fallacy. This means crediting yourself with outcomes for which you […]
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Who will run against Obama?
October 9th, 2011 by Roger Darlington
About five years ago, sections of the American media speculated that the election battle for the US Presidency could be an all-female affair: Hillary Clinton for the Democrats and Condoleezza Rice for the Republicans. In the event, neither was a candidate. We seem to be in a similar state of excitement now in parts of […]
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