Category Archives: Sociocultural

Poverty Memes

Posted on March 15, 2023 by Robert Tighe

In the United States we are conflicted about poverty. When referring to poor people there are two over-generalizations that we use. On one side we have what might be called the concept of the “noble poor” such as the hero-protagonists … Continue reading →

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Community Aid

Posted on February 15, 2023 by Robert Tighe

The system of local irrigation in New Mexico contains a lengthy network of canals, most of them small and dirt-lined, maintained annually in a system that was developed over many centuries. In a few places there are larger government-maintained diversion … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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