Globalism: Goods, capital and people should be able to move freely across borders. Versus Nationalism : Asserting sovereign control over one’s country. Nationalism is at the core of Brexit and the US election of 2016. A troubling aspect of this nationalism is its penchant for xenophobia and for ethnic and religious exclusion. It panders to fear of threats to linguistic, religious and cultural norms and wants to weaken global structures such as the World Trade Organization, NATO, the United Nations or . . .
Month: September 2018
Big Enough?
How much is enough? Let’s face it as a species we misbehave. We require the police to maintain daily decorum and using history as a predictor, we need a military just in case. The DoD request for 2019 for $716 Billion says they need more: “To address the scope and pace of our competitors’ and adversaries’ ambitions and capabilities, we must invest in modernization of key capabilities through sustained, predictable budgets. Our backlog of deferred readiness, procurement, and modernization requirements . . .
Humble Power
Humility: noun a modest or low view of one’s own importance An under appreciated source of power? Humility promotes: Understanding and learning. Empathy Openness to different opinions and ideas Perspective Credibility A lack of humility leads to: Closed thinking Misjudging one’s importance Undervaluing others Missed oportunities Being less persuasive We should insist on humility in our leaders! It is a source of power that helps get things done.
Blended Cultures
We are not replacing ourselves. But,we need more workers. Maybe immigrants could help? The National Center for Health Statistics has calculated the US birth rate for 2017 at 60.2 per 1000 women between 15 and 44 or 1.76 lifetime per woman (3% lower than 2016). This extends the 47 year US sub-replacement trend. This means that as older generations age out of the workforce, there will be an increasingly skewed ratio of retirees to working Americans. A thoughtful immigration policy could . . .