Edifice of Trust

The campaign promises of politicians are similar to the theatrical plot device known as deus ex machina, something (in ancient Greek dramas an actor portraying a god hoisted onto the stage by a mechanical device) that somehow resolves an otherwise unsolvable problem the actors on the stage could not solve on their own. Politicians promise to resolve the otherwise unsolvable problems confronted by poor and oppressed people with some government program or entitlement. In this commentary we show that those campaign promises are just plot devices and not real solutions.

About a million years ago, our prehistoric ancestors were reduced to barely thirteen hundred individuals, a so-called genetic bottleneck. If our ancestors had not survived that precarious moment in time, we wouldn't exist. Right now we may be experiencing another genetic bottleneck as birth rates around the world are plummeting below the replacement rate. In this commentary, we look at declining populations and investigate the implications for our future.

The candidates for the upcoming 2026 elections that are being chosen by the Republicans and Democrats (aka MAGA and DSA) are repellent to say the least. Voters entering the voting booth must hold their nose and suppress their gag reflex before pulling the lever. In this commentary we look at how be optimistic about America even when confronted by this dismal reality.

Many of the early colonists came to North America so that they could practice their interpretation of the Christian faith for which they were being persecuted in their home countries. And those Christian principles played an essential role in creating what is now America. Movements to end slavery and expand women's suffrage began with Christian religious movements. In this commentary we discuss how Christianity shaped America and how newcomers need to better understand Christianity.

The Greatest Generation was made up of millions of ordinary Americans that rose to the challenges of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Past generations of American have had to meet the challenges of the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and others. Our generation, my generation, have reaped the benefits of past generations but are not passing a better world onto our children and grandchildren. In this commentary we discuss the challenges our offspring will face.

As the largest shareholder in the newly public company, SpaceX, Elon Musk is now the world's first trillionaire. And it is only a matter of time for calls to tax the hell out of him start coming in from the left. But why? In this commentary we look at the counterproductive policy of taxing wealth creation.

Nicholas Wade, in his most recent book the Origin of Politics, tries to use evolution to justify why a nation state based on ethnicity, language and religion is the best political structure for the United States and other nations around the world. He rejects the aspirational vision of the Enlightenment principles and values that were the basis for the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In this commentary, we look at how Mr. Wade has deviated from the science of evolution into the ideology of national conservatism.

Peace talks with Iran are ongoing but, seemingly, going nowhere. As Condoleezza Rice stated in a recent op-ed, no deal is better than a bed deal. But any deal that does not change the behavior the Iranian regime is probably a bad deal. In this commentary, we look at how the parties to any peace deal have different motives and different objectives for these negotiations.

Americans love to root for the underdog. But rooting for an underdog doesn't mean we want to tilt the field in the underdog's favor. We want the underdog to win fair and square. But how does rooting for the underdog translate from sports to real life? In this commentary we look at how we should root for all the underdogs that exist in real life.

There is no big tent in the Republican Party. Only loyalty to President Trump and his agenda is acceptable. Everyone else must be purged and President Trump has been very successful during this primary season in achieving this goal. Democrats are also in the process of cancelling anyone with ideas outside their leftist agenda. In this commentary we ask how these trends will affect "the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity."