In an interview conducted by Rachel Maddow, John Stewart once suggested that the media exaggerates the centrality of the Republican/Democratic divide in America. Looking surprised, Maddow asked what he meant. As an example, Stewart suggested that the difference between people with children and those without was much more significant. At the time I thought it…
Capitalism
How Should Government Promote Stable Families?
While the achievement of marriage equality will be a tremendous step, it comes at a time when an extended recession has drawn attention to the economic fragility of contemporary families. When two parents are required to support a child (or when only one is available), the consequences of unemployment or underemployment can be devastating for…
A Government Interest in Promoting Stable Families
I believe that government does have a compelling interest in promoting the formation of stable families. To explain my thinking, let me first return to the framework of capitalism and citizenship at the foundation of this blog. As I have explained before, I see citizenship and capitalism as the two dominant and indispensable systems structuring American society…
Has the President Read This Blog?
Ok, yes, I know that’s unlikely, especially considering my dearth of posts lately. But after listening to his speech tonight (while proctoring a final exam for my students), I noticed this first part of James Fallows’ assessment: 1) Citizen Obama. The most interesting “new”-ish approach in the speech was the theme that ran through the final one-third…
Airport Security System: Citizenship or Capitalism?
I listened to a discussion the other day that got right to the heart of the capitalism v. citizenship debate. The conversation (on local public radio) was about two competing trends in airport security. In the United States, the federal government (though the Transportation Security Administration) controls airport security checkpoints. But they don’t control the…
Health Care: Balancing Citizenship and Capitalism
As I have argued previously (see here, here, and here), the United States has been shaped by two great organizing models: capitalism and citizenship. Capitalism has provided the U.S. with one of the most dynamic economic engines in the world over the last century and more. Citizenship has made us a shining political beacon, a nation founded on…
The Colorado Springs Experiment, Part II
In my last post on the Colorado Springs Experiment I wrote about the liberal/conservative divide over municipal services. Liberals, I suggested, failed to face the real economic costs of equal access to municipal services. Conservatives have rejected equality of services as a priority of municipal government. Here I’d like to approach the issues, especially the…
Democracy and Technocrats II
As promised earlier, here are my main concerns with technocratic government, from the new governments in Greece and Italy to the emergency city managers cropping up in the United States. To begin with I would actually like to set aside one argument: that technocrats are often associated with autocratic government. There are plenty of historical…
When Capitalism and Citizenship Collide
Lately I’ve been hearing more references to an old argument: That our present (and growing) income inequality is ok as long as everyone’s life is improving a bit. This is an old conservative saw and one which I find particularly miserly. It’s as though the invention and seeming ubiquitousness of computers made it acceptable for…
What is “Rich”?
An opinion piece in Friday’s Washington Post purported to tackle five “myths” about the millionaires. In general I’ve enjoyed these ‘five myth’ pieces. But this one seemed to reflect a major problem with how we talk about wealth in this country. The first “myth” tackled in the piece was “Millionaires are rich.” The author, John…