Category Archives: Politics

Let’s Hear It for the Working Class

Posted on by

[I’ve tried to refrain from politics on this blog. For the most part, I’ve stayed true to that end. However, sometimes something occurs that makes it impossible to remain silent. In fact, I’ve had to hold my tongue over and over since Paul LePage was elected governor. Yesterday was the final straw for me, when the governor made a comment so crude and offensive, and well beyond the pale of civil discourse, while attacking another elected official that I decided I had to weigh-in on the matter.–jb]

Standing with Troy Jackson, a logger, and a champion for Maine's working class.

Standing with Troy Jackson, a logger, and a champion for Maine’s working class.

I don’t know Troy Jackson personally. I had the good fortune to meet his son back in March, a young man who left the region and state like many of Maine’s best and brightest, but realized at some point that he had Aroostook County in his blood and came back to see what he might do to turn the tide and make a difference in rural Maine. I’m guessing the apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. Continue reading →

The day after (the day after)

Posted on by

Jubilant first family after victory declared.

Phew! We managed to make it through another “silly season.” For the uninitiated, silly season is that period—one that occurs every four years—when a host of surrogates of the well-connected perform a kabuki dance called “running for president.”  

We begin with a crowded field initially, whittling it down to two front-running candidates and a host of others that are lucky to garner one percent of the total vote, combined. These would be the host of third parties, also known as a losing proposition in America without something like instant-runoff voting in place. Continue reading →

We know less than we think

Posted on by

There is a scourge that is affecting America, one where men and women with little to show in the way of results somehow think they are better qualified and more capable than others, particularly those in positions of leadership. This phenomenon has a name; it’s called the Dunning-Kruger effect, named after the two researchers at Cornell who came up with the hypothesis.

Another similar effect is illusory superiority, a cognitive bias that causes people to overestimate their positive qualities and abilities and to underestimate their negative qualities, relative to others. We are all guilty of this from time to time. Where it becomes problematic is when it seriously impairs people’s ability to think critically and see events through a realistic lens, framed by perspective and self-awareness of this bias. Continue reading →