Adam Smith, who is more remembered for his having written the Wealth of Nations, first published in 1776, was also a moral philosopher. Although Smith’s allusion to the phrase “invisible hand” has subsequently been distorted by opponents of government regulation of the economy in the United States to support their minimalist ideology,  his writings need … Read more

One possible explanation for the ‘false consciousness’ that the historian Thomas Frank  chronicled in his book What’s The Matter With Kansas?  is the phenomenon of  cognitive dissonance: Millions of ordinary Americans are unable to reconcile what they have been taught about the professed values of American democracy with the reality that the political system is … Read more

One possible explanation for the ‘false consciousness’ that the historian Thomas Frank  chronicled in his book What’s The Matter With Kansas?  is the phenomenon of  cognitive dissonance: Millions of ordinary Americans are unable to reconcile what they have been taught about the professed values of American democracy with the reality that the political system is … Read more

In a letter to the editor of the Boston Globe, dated April 3, 2024, Lisa Lazars, Executive Director of Educators for Excellence, criticized the use of seniority as a criterion for teacher lay-offs in Boston and throughout Massachusetts public schools because she claimed that it had a disproportionate impact upon teachers of color. Ms. Lazars’ … Read more

By almost every indicator, Americans fare poorly in literacy — defined as competence or knowledge in a specified area, whether measured by linguistic, scientific, historic, economic, geographic, or legal aptitude. We have become a ‘sound-bite’ culture . As a consequence, many Americans cannot distinguish between a fact and an opinion or distinguish myth from reality. … Read more