Category Archives: Sociocultural

Pragmatic States

Posted on January 15, 2023 by Robert Tighe

The United States has a lengthy history of pragmatism in both philosophy and action, a long tradition that may have helped the nation grow but may also have inspired, or at least prefigured, the serious political conflicts of the second … Continue reading →

Posted in Sociocultural | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Change Le Même

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Robert Tighe

One of the most common tropes around the beginning of the twenty-first century is a phrase that has been used to describe virtually every major event from the attack on the world trade center to the election of Donald Trump … Continue reading →

Posted in Media, Sociocultural | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ban Books and More

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Robert Tighe

As I write this we are in the midst of a national effort to ban ideas. This isn’t anything new; our politicians and pundits have been involved in what has become known as the “culture wars” for years, and previous … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Sociocultural | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Real Magic

Posted on August 15, 2022 by Robert Tighe

Arthur had come to the conclusion that even after years of dedicated effort, after all of those hours and hours of lonely practice, staring at himself in front of a mirror, watching attentively to micro-adjust his movements and his statements, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Sociocultural | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Real Magic

Supreme Ego

Posted on July 15, 2022 by Robert Tighe

In June this year the Supreme Court vacated Roe v. Wade with an extreme, repetitive, and oddly argued opinion that will, despite assurances to the contrary, threaten a constellation of basic rights that have been built up over the past … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Sociocultural | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Supreme Ego

No Such Thing

Posted on June 15, 2022 by Robert Tighe

One simple economic principle that is all-too often ignored is the one represented by the acronym TANSTAAFL. Never mind that in order to create an easily pronounced phonetic entity the short instructive declaration behind TANSTAAFL has been often expressed as … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Sociocultural | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Big Boy Pants?

Posted on May 14, 2022 by Robert Tighe

In recent decades we, as a society, have made progress in removing many of the vestiges of sexist behavior and thought from our society. For many of us it’s not enough progress, to be certain, just as for those groups … Continue reading →

Posted in Sociocultural | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Big Boy Pants?

Imperial Failure

Posted on April 15, 2022 by Robert Tighe

The 2022 invasion of Ukraine should not have been a surprise. Not to anyone. It was, in large part, a result of the imperial imperative; the desire of an egotistical leader with dictatorial powers to reconstruct the global prestige and … Continue reading →

Posted in Sociocultural | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Imperial Failure

Deniability

Posted on March 15, 2022 by Robert Tighe

I’ve always been a company man. It always made perfect sense to me. Starting with the fact that I was, and would in all likelihood remain, a mid-level functionary in a large business establishment, it seemed that it would be … Continue reading →

Posted in Satire, Sociocultural | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Deniability

Maldistribution and its Consequences

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Robert Tighe

In last month’s post I noted that the past four decades have demonstrated that there is a significant amount of surplus in the economic system and that that surplus, obviously and unfortunately, is not widely shared within our population. Benefits … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Sociocultural | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Maldistribution and its Consequences