Beyond Intractability in Context Blog
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Posts ordered from most recent to earliest.
- A look at what UCLA is and is not doing to protect Jewish students and reflections about how that compares to the treatment of other minority groups. -- UCLA Crafts FAQs On How Not To Enable Discrimination Against Jewish Students -- Sep 03
- An examination of one of the most difficult issues facing free speech advocates -- where to draw the line between protected speech and criminal speech. -- First Amendment Doesn't Protect Speech That Solicits a Specific Crime -- Sep 03
- An argument that Democrats have, thus far, failed to respond to the threats posed by the extremes of Trump's candidacy with specific proposals for correcting the situation. -- Democrats Are Still Not Thinking Seriously About Preventing Another Jan. 6 -- Sep 03
- A summary of the steps that institutions of higher education are taking to prevent the kind of politically explosive protests that occurred on so many campuses last spring. -- New Training and Tougher Rules: How Colleges Are Trying to Tame Gaza Protests -- Sep 02
- A more understandable summary of the major new research report highlighting the fact that most of the things that we have been doing to fight climate change aren't working. -- Why Are Carbon Emissions Up? -- Sep 02
- The report on what Palestinians are now thinking about Hamas, Israel, and the tragedy that has engulfed them. -- In a Grim Palestinian Refugee Community, People See Hope in Hamas -- Sep 02
- An article exploring the complex psychological dynamics that determine how the language that we use influences how we think, and how we think influences the culture in which we live. -- Our language, our world -- Sep 02
- A critique of ongoing efforts to negotiate a cease-fire/hostage-release deal that raises real questions about whether or not this is really a path to peace. -- Warning: Advocates of a ‘ceasefire-for-hostages’ deal are lying to you. -- Sep 01
- Genocide is one of those words that is now used in so many different (and often misleading) ways that it has become hard to distinguish genuine genocidal violence from self-serving propaganda. -- The Bitter Fight Over the Meaning of ‘Genocide’ -- Sep 01
- Solid proposals for responding to the way in which digital media has worked its way into pretty much every corner of our lives. -- The Seven Essential Truths of Digital Media Literacy -- Sep 01
- A major new study from the American Association for the Advancement of Science's, Science Magazine that argues that most of what we are doing to fight climate change isn't working. Time for a major rethink. -- Climate policies that achieved major emission reductions: Global evidence from two decades -- Sep 01
- An excerpt from Alexandre Lefebvre’s new book “Liberalism as a Way of Life” -- another effort to help us understand liberalism and why we need to defend it. -- Liberal Soulcraft: Liberalism is in trouble. It will take a concerted act of will to save it. -- Aug 31
- Thoughtful advice for university presidents looking for ways to better handle Gaza-type protests, while also remaining true to the core (and often neglected) mission of the university. -- What I Want a University President to Say About Campus Protests -- Aug 31
- The dynamics of hyper-polarization are also playing out on a global scale with autocracies increasingly forming alliances to help them more effectively challenge Western democracies. -- The West’s Next Challenge Is the Rising Axis of Autocracies -- Aug 31
- Reflections on the extremely worrying downsides of a major party presidential candidate that systematically undermines the idea that there can be anything approaching objective truth. -- Trump's Lies Are More Injurious than Mere Propaganda -- Aug 31
- From a critical, right-leaning perspective, a look at the steps that Kamala Harris and the Democrats are taking to better appeal to moderate, centrist, swing voters. -- Kamala Harris Rushes to the Center -- Aug 31
- The report on the agonizing strategic choice facing Israel and questions about the degree to which the lessons of 1967 and 1973 apply. -- Michael Oren: Should Israel Strike First? -- Aug 24
- A critical essay that asks whether political satire in the United States is playing a positive or a negative role. -- American Political Satire Sucks Because It Force Feeds You Answers Instead of Asking You Questions -- Aug 23
- A review of a surprisingly large number of sometimes legally questionable governmental programs designed to promote housing affordability. The big question is, are they really affordable? -- Here Comes Kamala’s Mortgage Forgiveness -- Aug 23
- The linguistic analysis of how cultural diversity is reflected in our patterns of speech and what this says about how best to communicate with different groups. -- Harris Gonna Code Switch -- Aug 22
- From an Israeli (and a more general military perspective) reflections on the military challenges posed by the Gaza war and Israel's strategy for meeting those challenges. -- Israel is fighting the hardest war in modern history — and winning. -- Aug 22
- During a time when culture war politics seems to primarily focus on abortion, LBGTQIA+ issues, and feminism, news that questions about masculinity will be a big topic this year. -- Masculinity Is on the Ballot -- Aug 22
- Concrete steps that universities could take to earn back the public's trust (and do a better job of serving the larger society). -- To Rebuild Trust, Universities Need To Build Open-Minded Brands -- Aug 22
- An analysis of the truly dystopian reality -- a society in which our relationships (and especially the relationships of young people) are driven by computer algorithms, not interpersonal interactions. -- Algorithms Are Making Kids Desperately Unhappy -- Aug 22
- An in-depth profile highlighting the thinking of one Democrat who believes that his party has failed to grasp the reasons why so many people distrust Democrats. -- The Senator Warning Democrats of a Crisis Unfolding Beneath Their Noses -- Aug 21
