CULTURE
Three Reasons to Learn a Formula
At a humor workshop I attended recently, Judy Carter taught us a formula for creating a joke around something mean that someone said to us. The steps were: 1. Remember exactly what words were used, plus the tone and body language, so you can act it out. 2. Backtrack:...
Visiting Nixon’s Birthplace
“I was born in a house my father built.” So said Richard Nixon (1913-1994) about his birthplace in Orange County, California. A recent visit to the home, located on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, and museum (which opened in 1990 with...
Giving is Not a Duty
At this time of the year, many of us are giving presents out of benevolence, goodwill, appreciation, and love—I hope. Gifts are a means of showing that we value their recipients in some way, whether friends, loved ones, causes, or charities. Giving gifts out of duty...
Movie Review: V for Vendetta
An allegorical warning against tyranny.
The Bum, the Cop and the Facts
This is about the barefoot Times Square bum bestowed with a pair of boots on a cold November night by a policeman whose act of charity was photographed by an Arizona tourist. The bum, it turns out, was seen last Sunday on the Upper West Side. The new boots, valued at...
Fear: The Great Inhibitor
Fear is the great inhibitor. When rational, fear is life-serving and life-protecting. However, the purpose of fear is avoidance. You rationally avoid things in order to obtain what life has to offer. You avoid an oncoming car when crossing a street in order to survive...
Why Humility is Not a Virtue
According to conventional morality, humility is a virtue. We are taught to think not too highly of ourselves or not to take credit for our achievements. Whatever we accomplish is due to collective effort or the grace of a higher power. A group of Executive MBA...
Envy is Bad For Us
I am writing this post in Finland where I am working for a month. Last week the Finns marked their annual unofficial “National Envy Day” when the Finnish Revenue Service publicized the income taxes and income of every tax-paying citizen. That in itself is a shocking...
Taking Words Seriously Can Help You Get Things Done
“I need more time.” That is what a client told me was the solution to his grueling work schedule. We say such things without thinking about it, but it’s worth pausing for a moment to focus on the thought. How could the solution possibly be more time?...
Art, Business, and First-Handed Productiveness
I recently heard a panel discussion by some accomplished professional artists about a variety of topics, ranging from the motivation to paint to the creative process to commercial success. It made me think of parallels between art and business and the role of...
State of the American Nation: September 2012
Let’s look at the facts: In July, unemployment rose in 44 out of 50 states. According to the Fed, industrial production fell 1.2 % in August, and that was the steepest decline since March 2009, a number we experienced at the bottom of things. Left-leaning...
Stealing Food To Feed The Poor
Two weeks ago, the mayor of a Spanish town in Andalusia was orchestrating raids to local supermarkets for the purpose of stealing food to feed the poor. He was quoted as saying: “Someone has to do something so families can eat.” Mr. Sanchez Gordillo, an avowed...
Sam Harris is Wrong On Free Will
Harris’ erroneous assertions are easy to refute.
Paul Ryan and Ayn Rand
Vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan has reportedly had favorable things to say about Ayn Rand, author of “Atlas Shrugged” and the philosophy of Objectivism, which stresses the absolutism of reason, reality and individual rights (including laissez-faire capitalism)....
Obama’s Pro-Islamic Rewriting of American History
Barack Obama said the following at a recent White House dinner: Of all the freedoms we cherish as Americans, of all the rights that we hold sacred, foremost among them is freedom of religion, the right to worship as we choose. It’s enshrined in the First Amendment of...
Your Life is Your Responsibility
If you were alone on a desert island you would not be able to escape the fact that you must work to sustain your life. Alone on the island you could spend your days in any activity of your choosing—hunting, fishing, building a home, swimming, or napping. But you would...
Two Wrongs and Rights: Chick-Fil-A, The Thought Police and Gay Civil Unions
Cathy and the politicians deny that individuals have the right to contract freely, and marriage is a contractual agreement. Cathy would deny this right to gays. The politicians would deny this right to Cathy, property owners, and consumers.
Fairness for Capitalism Pledge: An Open Letter to Warren Buffett
You and your fellow billionaires should make this policy on the part of the colleges and universities an absolute condition of receiving donations or bequests from you for any purpose. You could think of it, perhaps, as the “Fairness for Capitalism Pledge.”
Manifest Destiny
In 1839, John O’Sullivan, editor of The United States Magazine and Democratic Review, wrote a piece titled “The Great Nation of Futurity” in which he argued that the United States had a divine destiny to occupy the American continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific....
Education and the Poor
The poor have found remarkably innovative ways of helping themselves, educationally, and in some of the most destitute places on Earth have managed to nurture a large and growing industry of private schools for themselves.
Free Speech No Excuse For Muslim Ideology of Violence
Even in today’s crazy world, there’s still some justice to be found in the United States. A convert to Islam who helped promote death threats against the producers of the animated television show “South Park” after it featured a character...
All Children Left Behind
According to clickorlando.com and FoxNews.com, The Florida Board of Education decided in an emergency meeting last Tuesday to lower the passing grade on the writing portion of Florida’s standardized test, after preliminary results showed a drastic drop in...
The Common Denominator Between Riots Against Austerity Measures, Protests Against Tuition Hikes, And “No Zeros” High School Grading Policy
I have resisted commenting on political issues—such as the riots in Greece against the austerity measures by the government and the more than three-month long student protests in Montreal against the small tuition hikes introduced by the Quebec government—because I...
An Austere Recovery: The Swift Recovery from the 1920’s U.S. Recession
How “austerity” measures lead the United States’ rapid recovery from the deep recession into which it sank in the last half of 1920.
Mysticism is Alive in America
According to a 2009 Harris Poll, when Americans are asked to “Please indicate for each one if you believe in it, or not,” the following results were revealing: 82% believe in God 76% believe in miracles 71% believe in survival of the soul after death 75% believe in...
“Waste Not, Want Not” — Another Myth!
Dear Dr. Hurd: My mother is a good, well-meaning lady. But every so often she reminds me of the fact that she grew up during the Great Depression, and so learned the value of saving things. And whenever I am seen throwing away a plastic bag or a piece of aluminum foil...
Sharia Law and The “Right” to Violate Rights
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback signed a bill aimed at keeping state courts and agencies from using Islamic or other non-U.S. laws when making decisions, his office said on Friday. The bill doesn’t specifically mention Shariah law, which broadly refers to codes...
Abyssal Failures: The Post Office and Education
For decades, America’s public schools have done an increasingly poor job of educating our children. Politicians love to put forth optimistically named programs, such as “No Child Left Behind” or “Save our Schools,” with grand promises of reforming our educational...
The Occupiers Claim: Working for A Living is Slavery
So rather than viewing work as a disvalue that limits our freedom like the Occupiers do, we should embrace it as a source of purpose and self-esteem—important elements of a happy, flourishing life.
The Rise of the Religious Left
Such religious Democrats are really the most consistent people on the political landscape today. To be in favor of religion, and in favor of the massive welfare/entitlement state originally brought about by liberal Democrats, they are endeavoring to practice their religion with integrity.
What Love Is and Isn’t
When you love someone in a rational, genuine way, you love that person as an individual. You sincerely want him or her to be happy, and you want to add to their life while, at the same time, experiencing your own enjoyment of that person.
“Moneyball” and the Source of Values
“Moneyball” is a baseball movie that isn’t about baseball. It is a movie about the passionate pursuit of values. And more fundamentally, it is a movie about the source of value creation—the rational, independent judgment of innovators. Starring Brad Pitt as Billy...
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