Those animals which are incapable of making binding agreements with one another not to inflict nor suffer harm are without either justice or injustice; and likewise for those peoples who either could not or would not form binding agreements not to inflict or suffer harm.
Epicurus, Principle Doctrine XXXII
On May 4, 1796, American historian William H. Prescott was born. Prescott’s History of the Conquest of Mexico and his Conquest of Peru remain classic works of well-researched, ”scientific history.” Prescott, Arizona, was named in his honor.
Why do some Washington wizards refuse to wave their magic wands? Why, they could make our world . . . wonderful!
On CNN’s State of the Union program over the weekend, guest host Dana Bash spoke with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) about her legislation to “give parents paid leave to be with their child in exchange for delaying retirement up to six months.”
“So, the question is,” Bash queried the senator, “if paid leave is so important, why would it require somebody to . . . lengthen their time working, to give up six months of retirement, in order to pay to have a child and work?”
In other words, why should employees not be awarded paid leave from their jobs whenever they want it? Without having to make any trade-off with their employer. Is Sen. Ernst some kind of cheapskate?
“[T]he plan that I have put forward . . . is a voluntary program,” she noted. “It is not a mandatory program.”
Not mandatory? She must be relatively new to Washington.
“And that way, a parent can decide what is right for them,” explained Ernst.
Time off taken now would be traded for equal time working later; it would not be simply forced upon employers to provide a freebie for employees.
“But what we don’t want to do is impose an additional tax,” the rookie senator continued. “And I have heard from small business owners all across Iowa that say, if there was an additional tax, I wouldn’t be able to have as many workers or so forth.”
Voluntary federal programs . . . next thing we know freedom may break out.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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Benedetto Croce, The Philosophy of the Practical: Economic and Ethic, trans. Douglas Ainslie (1913, 1967), p. 429.
We must be severe, not only with ourselves, but with others also; exigent, not only with ourselves, but with others also; and so, on the contrary, benevolent not only towards others, but also toward ourselves; compassionate, not only toward others, but also towards this instrument of labour that we carry about with us and of which we sometimes demand too much; that is, our empirical individuality. Reality is neither democratic nor aristocratic, but both together; it abhors the privilege of some over others as much as that equality, according to which each one must have the same value as the other at every moment.
On May 28, 1952, the women of Greece gained the right to vote.
Last week, when the public relations wing of the U.S. Army asked, on Twitter, “how has serving impacted you?” the bulk of the responses were not what was hoped for. What came like tear drops and bursts of rage were thousands of horrific tales, expressions of sorrow, bitterness and despair.
No doubt the intention was to elicit, if not patriotic uplift, at least stories of learning, moral growth, centeredness, and personal victory out of sacrifice and suffering. Almost certainly the Army wanted what the promoters of “national service” now want.
The outcome was far messier.
Now, the Army handled the Twitterflak very well, with a tweet thanking people for their expressions. But a response by Mike Schmidt (@MikeSchmidt69) was probably as upbeat as could be expected, given the ‘writing on the wall’— er, Twitterfeed: “Some say this thread back-fired but this is just the thread that is needed each [M]emorial [D]ay so we remember the sacrifices military members and their families make and how we as a country need to understand the true cost of service and improve our support.”
Most of the tweets I read were decidedly not upbeat. The anger and pain over battle deaths, wounds, PTSD, mental illness, suicides, and so much indifference to it — it was deep and wide . . . and heartbreaking.
‘War is hell.’ In self-defense — defense of These United States — the brave soldier and general is honorable. But that honor is informed by the reticence that comes from actual knowledge of its true costs.
Maybe this Memorial Day President Trump and all policy makers will finally get what service truly is . . . and stop pitching more of the same unjustifiable-because-unwinnable or -unendable interventions around the world.
Of course, demanding peace and sanity and accountability is up to all of us holding the hot dogs.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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Kraus, Die Fackel, no. 46 (October 9, 1917).
War: first, one hopes to win; then one expects the enemy to lose; then, one is satisfied that the enemy too is suffering; in the end, one is surprised that everyone has lost.
On May 27, 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi began his attack on Palermo, Sicily, as part of the Italian unification.
In 1927 on this date in May, the Ford Motor Company ceased manufacture of the Ford Model T (pictured above), the last of this model coming off the line the day previous. Over 16 million Model T Fords had been sold; it was a world-transformative product. On the 27th, the company began to retool plants to make the Ford Model A.
Exactly 70 years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Paula Jones could pursue her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton while he was in office.
In 2015 on the 27th of May, the commercial space company SpaceX was approved as a contractor to the U.S. military for satellite launches; SpaceX has since led the world in its use of
A question that has answers.
Stanislav Andreski, Social Sciences as Sorcery (1972), p. 187.
Like many other things, the laudable ideal of combining education and research has its seamy side, in that graduate teaching offers an opportunity to recruit cheap (and in a way forced) labour for the captains of the research industry.