Category Archives: Political Psychology

“You will govern in the interests of rage…”

Posted on October 29, 2019 by hessd

This week, Jenni Russell, a columnist for The Times of London offered some language I would like to think further about.  She was writing about Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his electoral strategist, Dominic Cummings, but I think that we … Continue reading →

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The Greater Good and Its Rivals

Posted on October 1, 2019 by hessd

Of all the ways to “look at things,” I would like to explore one particular set that is currently bedeviling us. These ways of looking at things are based on value premises that are contradictory, if either is allowed to … Continue reading →

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Why hating “religion” isn’t going to help anything

Posted on August 31, 2019 by hessd

Timothy Egan posted a pointless rant in the New York Times today.  I don’t think it will do any damage because the only people who will get past the first several paragraphs are people who want to see a really … Continue reading →

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Microaggression

Posted on August 26, 2019 by hessd

I would like to begin by changing the form of this word. The reasons will become evident. I would like to summon up parallel terms, one for offense and one for defense. I am thinking of something like the pair … Continue reading →

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Softball Questions

Posted on August 15, 2019 by hessd

I attended a meeting this week at the senior center where I live. The goal of the meeting was for each of the principal administrators to give a report of work being carried out in her or her department. It … Continue reading →

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And thank you, Mr. Tweedly

Posted on July 21, 2019 by hessd

My niece, Lisa Hess (thank you, Lisa) reignited our family’s love of Stan Freberg’s humor this week.  For her, the occasion was a meeting with women writers in which she was supposed to “share something that shaped my love of … Continue reading →

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Alternative antonyms

Posted on July 20, 2019 by hessd

English is a language that is congenial to antonyms, but it is not always clear just what constitutes an antonym for a particular word. For instance, what is the opposite of “responsible?” I can think of two: irresponsible and not … Continue reading →

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Making people better cogs

Posted on July 15, 2019 by hessd

Professor Karen Levy has been studying the automation of the trucking industry.  That is why New York Times writer Noam Scheiber interviewed her in preparation for his article on robots in the Amazon warehouse on Staten Island.  Schreiber and Levy … Continue reading →

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Abortion and Whack-a-mole

Posted on June 12, 2019 by hessd

Gov. Janet Mills, of Maine, is in the process of putting on the books a law that will allow physicians’ assistants and nurse practitioners to perform abortions.  I had not thought of that approach and when I read it in … Continue reading →

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Cultural Backlash

Posted on May 16, 2019 by hessd

Today’s reflection concerns the ‘backlash” that is a familiar part of every news medium.  If you could divide news sources cleanly into liberal and conservative (you can’t) you could say that conservative sources emphasize the “back” and liberal sources, the … Continue reading →

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