Category Archives: Human Nature

Movie relevance, conservative intuition, unbothered people, Paul and Heather

Posted on Friday 13 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

How A House of Dynamite, not nominated for any Oscars, is more important and relevant than any of the pictures nominated, and a great movie; Trump needs to “feel it in my bones” to make a decision, which is precisely … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Human Nature, Movies | Leave a comment

Stupid vs. Evil

Posted on Thursday 12 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Robert Reich’s take on what the two US political parties think of each other, and my interpretation of conservative thinking; About Pete Hegseth and how he sees moral purpose in war as a weakness; Another item about parental rights, concerning … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, Morality, Politics | Leave a comment

Gullicism and Literacy

Posted on Monday 9 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Adam Serwer on our “gullible, cynical” America, a condition he dubs “gullicism”; And how this is an absence of “literacy” about how the world actually works; Why everyone thinking “God is on our side” is a problem; John Pavlovitz answers … Continue reading →

Posted in Human Nature, LIteracy, Religion | Tagged | Leave a comment

Johan Norberg, PROGRESS

Posted on Tuesday 3 March 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future (UK: Oneworld, Oct 2016, 246pp, including 28pp notes, acknowledgements, and index) Rather as I did with Rutger Bregman a few days, here’s an author who has a new book out recently, … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Notes, Human Nature, Human Progress, progress | Comments Off on Johan Norberg, PROGRESS

The MAHA Veil, Cruelty, and What Trump Supporters are Teaching their Children

Posted on Thursday 26 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

MAHA isn’t about health, it’s about making money off quack cures; Matthew Rozsa thinks Trump will lose in November because of one word: cruelty; John Pavlovitz spells out what Trump supporters are teaching their children, about diversity, compassion, women, and … Continue reading →

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Rutger Bregman: HUMANKIND

Posted on Wednesday 25 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Subtitled “A Hopeful History” (2019 Dutch; 2020 Little, Brown, xviii+461pp, including 64pp acknowledgements, notes, and index) Still catching up posting about big books I’ve read in recent years. This book came out in 2020 (in the US) and I blogged … Continue reading →

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Does ICE need to come and track you down?

Posted on Tuesday 24 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Why Trump fears “woke,” why he loves the poorly-educated, and how advances in American history were due to “woke”; How he cares about discrimination only if it’s against Jews or whites; How his creepy emails work on the MAGA faithful; … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Nature, Human Progress, Psychology | Comments Off on Does ICE need to come and track you down?

Competence vs. Competition

Posted on Monday 23 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Olympics thoughts: zero-sum games; competence vs competition; Amanda Marcotte on the violence and propaganda from the DHS; Zack Beauchamp on how to stop a dictator: make the threat obvious; Tom Nichols on the Republican Party’s Nazi problem; Short items about … Continue reading →

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Another Take on the Left/Right Divide

Posted on Sunday 22 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Kalen Dion on the right/left divide: homogeneity/diversity, and all that implies; What do historians mean that tomorrow won’t be better than today? Because human nature; The modern economy and the limits of human cognition; Conservative values: the Biblical right to … Continue reading →

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Whatever They Can Get Away With

Posted on Friday 20 February 2026 by Mark R. Kelly

Short items today Trump’s move to demolish greenhouse gas standards is based on a (admittedly technical) lie; America is experiencing a tourism slump (because… one guess); About Trump’s “cartoonish” monuments to himself; How Trump makes his own voters suffer; How … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservative Resistance, Human Nature, Religion | Comments Off on Whatever They Can Get Away With