America as a Developing Country
Surging stupidity, inequity…and hugs.
Amidst a looming surge in a more transmissible and/or dangerous Covid variant, prompting our CDC director to warn of “impending doom,” many politicians are still throwing caution to the wind. With a 40,000-plus, potentially super-spreader crowd for the Texas Rangers’ baseball season home opener and Governor Greg Abbott banning any sort of “vaccination passports,” Texas is racing to win the state equivalent of the Darwin Award.
[Continue Reading]Some Funny Takes on Why We Must and Don’t Learn from Australia About Gun Violence
In the wake of eight shot dead in Georgia and ten in Colorado over the past couple of weeks, I was going to take a deep dive into gun violence. I would draw on analyses discussing: a wide range of relevant data; how we compare to other countries; U.S. mass shooting statistics; going small by “chip[ping] away at a large problem through a public health approach”; and a contrary prescription that asserts, “To change the status quo, Democrats should go big.”
On second thought…
Nah.
If you’re up for exploring any or all of these excellent articles, go at it.
But what strikes me about many such analyses is, through no fault of their own, how recycled they are. They update diagnoses, descriptions and prescriptions from a few years ago. They leave me disinclined to reinvent or regurgitate the wheel on this debate.
I’m not criticizing these thoughtful, informative commentaries; they’re as valid today as when originally written. But the refrains bring to mind this piece the Onion publishes each time we have a mass shooting: “‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.”
Instead, then, I’ll offer constructive laughter rather than despairing tears. I’ll recycle some humorous but extremely insightful videos contrasting American firearms policies and perspectives with those of Australia.
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Happy St. Patrick’s Day! And some happy memories…
On a trip through Ireland back in 1979, a couple of college friends and I chanced upon a small convenience store run by a cheerful woman.
“Where ya from?” she asked.
“America.”
“Ah, America. A nation of mongrels!”
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Eighty-three years ago, Franklin D. Roosevelt reminded America, “Let us not be afraid to help each other—let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us.”
In contrast, thirty-five years ago Ronald Reagan declared, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.”
[Continue Reading]While Joe’s predecessor suffers in comparison with even some autocrats.
While the quality of governance varies greatly across the globe, it’s normal for national leaders to care, or at least pretend to care, about putting in place policies that benefit their people. Even some authoritarian regimes advance their citizens’ well-being in some ways – though that does not excuse their rapaciousness, repression or human rights abuses.
In that autocratic vein, Vietnam, China, Uganda and Rwanda come to mind, given their achievements in economic growth, public health and other fields. Thus, though mainly motivated by self-interest, even certain otherwise execrable leaders try to do some good.
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