Category Archives: Sustainability

Strong women

Posted on May 12, 2020 by hessd

Where I live, people want women to be “strong.”  That is the official sentiment, at any rate.  That seems to me to be asking for too little.  Maybe I can introduce my concern by coming at it from the other … Continue reading →

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“Spiritual therapy”

Posted on April 26, 2020 by hessd

I have no idea what spiritual therapy is.  I haven’t even consulted Wikipedia.  I do have some idea about physical therapy, however, and I want to approach “spiritual therapy” using that analogy.[1] Physical Therapy Here’s what my experience with physical … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Old, Living My Life, Sustainability, ways of knowing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Non-conversation about the COVID-19 Virus

Posted on March 26, 2020 by hessd

In today’s New York Times (March 26), Nicholas Kristof and Russell Moore had a non-conversation about the COVID-19 virus.   Kristof, with co-author Stuart Thompson and with the help of some statistical model builders, published an interactive graph on the … Continue reading →

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I feel so judged

Posted on February 5, 2020 by hessd

There was a time—even I remember it—when someone who was really good at something, was admired for it.  Or “respected;” it depends to a certain extent on what it was.  I don’t think we are entirely out of that era—not … Continue reading →

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2019 in the rear-view mirror

Posted on January 2, 2020 by hessd

I freely grant that this end of the year reflection is an indulgence. [1] Except in the religious sense, we think of of that word in the context of “self-indulgent” mostly. That context puts many of these meanings (see the … Continue reading →

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Are we worth saving?

Posted on November 10, 2019 by hessd

“Let me tell you something, my friend, Red says to Andy in The Shawshank Redemption, “hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.” And that may be true. Or it may be the only thing that gives … Continue reading →

Posted in Society, Sustainability | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

I wanna be a hero

Posted on October 16, 2019 by hessd

I don’t know how it is with girls, but there is a persistent attraction among adolescent boys toward “heroism.” It can take really ugly forms as well as really attractive ones. I think there is nothing good or bad about … 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 →

Posted in Economy, Political Psychology, Sustainability, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

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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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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