Part 1 is here; Part 2 is here.
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Several years ago, in the pages of my first blog, ddjangoWIrE, I wrote an essay with the same title. When Blogger “accidentally” deleted my account, relegated ddjangoWIrE to a stripped archive, and “lost” some of my posts, the piece converted to disconnected bits in cyberspace and the essay was gone.

I’m really not going to use that disappearance as the primary excuse to post another brief essay on the same subject. Given the state of our nation, our democracy, and the inattention, malaise, and downright selfishness of its people, there are quite enough reasons to revisit this territory.  Read more 

Just Because It's An Old Idea Doesn't Mean It's A Bad Idea One of the characteristics of the illness I call "americanism" is the tendency to pay attention to style and hype rather than truth.  Read more