Category: Critical Theory
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Streamlining the Executive Branch of the United States
The US Constitution is brilliant for its simplicity and eloquence: The Legislative branch makes laws expressing the will of the people that embody different geographies, industries, and demographics; the Executive branch executes the will of the Legislature as defined by law; and the Judicial branch hears grievances about conflicts that arise from the constitutionality, legitimacy,…
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George Floyd and America’s Collective Unconscious
The protests centered upon the death of George Floyd are fed by a deeper stream of discontent. The discontent is not specific to any one issue, but by multiple inconsistencies with democracy and touted American values. Fundamental premises that underlie the Declaration of Independence, “that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator…
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Revisioning Government for a New Democracy
The bizarre experience of the current presidency has made abundantly clear that the US government requires an overhaul. Least the current administration take the entire hit for incompetence and kowtowing to the military-industrial complex, evidence of delusion, misappropriation, and doublespeak may be readily traced to successive Republican and Democratic administrations. The result is a parody…
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Surveillance State and Opinion Management
Thanks to the dog-and-pony impeachment show that assuredly is the product of the Democrat’s desperation to find a suitable candidate to oppose Donald Trump in the 2020 election, the reality has become obvious that the government is not the government of, by, and for the people. Rather the government is of, by, and for the…
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No More Cardinal Newman’s Idea of a University
What is it like to be a professor today in “soft disciplines” defined as “other than science, technology, and engineering”? The humanities and social sciences are soft disciplines. Psychology, sociology, political science, language, gender studies, business majors, and the like are soft disciplines. Soft disciplines have in common complex causality, weak and competing methodology, disciplinary…
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Politically Correct Mania
Four years ago, I was invited to contribute a chapter to a proposed book titled, “The impact of speech complaints on instructors in higher education.” This is an unlikely title to stir a runaway best seller. What motivated the book’s editors was personal experience of toxic political correctness upon collegiality, course content, and employment. Professors…
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Capitalism and the Fate of Big and Little
You rightfully may wonder why does a shrink concern himself with social-political issues. Culture, society, and its trappings are interdependent. We live within the matrix, and just as the characteristics of water effect the health of fish, so the social-political matrix effects human physical and mental health. At the onset of this essay, I declare…
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Limits of Binary and Zero-sum Mindset
The binary framework has deep roots in Western culture. The binary framework applies to systems defined by restricted logics such as board games and to science and digital applications, such as Newtonian physics and programing. Binary logics rely upon axiomatic, self-referential, closed systems. Inputs to the system must accord with the system, otherwise inputs are…
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The World on Edge
The variables and forces that are influencing or determining the future direction of national and international politics, along with the practice of professions, with emphasis upon psychology, are presented. Plausible outcomes of the current “world order” are described.
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How Research Design Warps Understanding of Humanity
The predominant method and approach to research in psychology, social science, and medicine is taken from an agricultural statistical (Ag Stat) research model whose basic premises were formulated in the 1930s through the 1950s. The Ag Stat model is geared to stalks of corn and ears of wheat. In this approach to research, different varieties…