Reconstructing History, Part 5: The Education Institution and Creating History
Before we get too far into this discussion, let us look at the concept of “institution”. From an academic perspective, Ostrom and North provide two complementary definitions. Elinor Ostrom, in her path-breaking book, Governing the Commons: The Evolution of…
Reconstructing History, Part 4: Multiple Punctured Equilibriums
The re-creating history got very complicated, with a series of punctuated equilibriums (see Path Breaking Strategy, Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3) before a new equilibrium could coalesce. The diagram above shows the complex series of events. This part…
Reconstructing History, Part 3: Social Justice Movements
There is clearly merit in some arguments of social justice warriors (SJW). American has a racist past. Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 was a dark stain on American liberty and freedom. But at least since Brown v. Board of Education…
Reconstructing History, Part 2: The Maskirovka of History
Traditional wisdom is the state has a monopoly the power to enact laws and compel their enforcement. As the Commander of CJTF-180 in Afghanistan once told me, “that briefs well, but can you do it?” Over the relevant range of…
Using the Education Institution to Create History, Part 1: Introduction
The destruction and rebuilding of American history is not an act of eminent domain. However, usurpation of power and control has similar attributes. As a reasonably well-educated student, I had read and studied the statement that the victors write history.…
The Rise of the American Bureaucracy
Figure Source: http://clipart-library.com/clipart/rTLobyGkc.htm The US has had a bureaucracy in one form or another since its founding. For the first 100 years, it was small and appointed by the President or his administration leaders. Pundits called this process the…
Part 5—Cutting the Puppet Masters’ Strings
Abstract: Critical thinking and mindfulness are the two-fold path to citizen resiliency and independence from media induced memes. “A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become right and evil doesn’t become good just because it’s accepted by a majority.” —…
Part 1: Political Movements—Maskirovka and Words Hide Meanings
Abstract: Do words and terms matter? Can political groups hide their agendas in nice sound bites in a game of maskirovka? Maskirovka 2.0 is a continuation of the old military approach, to which we must add new whole of-government tools,…
Operant Conditioning, Path Dependency and Societal Revolution, Part 2
As in Part 1 of this series, first a disclaimer. I am of the philosophical line in the discussion below. I think we should teach and be models of virtue because it is right and good and not because…
Standards, Cultural Relativism, and Broken Windows
This blog builds on the prior blogs Virtue: religion and philosophy, what does the founders’ vision embrace? and Virtue and Pandora’s Box: Effective Policy. Pandora’s Box discussed the damage some Victorian virtue policies wrought, but said the social justice movement’s…
