Political Thought
John DePetro and Justin Katz walk through the latest comedies in Rhode Island politics and discuss the characters who have been stealing the spotlight.
Now that it is no-longer-proposed, we are free to look at Fane Tower renderings in detail, beyond the gut reaction that it is odd and would be misplaced in Providence. Structurally, the building would have been akin to a tree trunk that began to split near the ground. The strength comes from the middle, providing…
Host John Carlevale introduces viewers to the RI Forward Party with Jim Palmisciano and Sarah R.
John DePetro and Justin Katz examine the ways an excessive purview and incompetence leave Rhode Island politicians and bureaucrats vulnerable to scams and other bad decisions.
Americans really need to be able to step back a bit from the immediate issue addressed in legislation and think about how it relates to our understanding of society’s proper structure. A Rhode Island bill going after self-checkout lanes in retail stores is an excellent case study. Kathy Gregg writes in the Providence Journal: An army…
With Lawrence, MA, as my inspiration, I described what I’ve since come to call the “company state” or “government plantation.” Just as big companies used to set up “company towns” which existed mainly to serve the companies, now governments are becoming the central industry and animating force of the regions under their control. Their model…
One can hardly doubt that Jessica David means all the best with such sentiments as this: I attempted to explore the specifics with her, but I didn’t get very far. Basically, she believes all variety of sectors ought to take money from all variety of sources to work toward population-wide goals that they and their…
Perhaps the most-challenging thing about good-government reforms is that, for the most part, we’re seeking to develop and implement them on the basis of a shallow political and organizational philosophy. Consider legislation that would change Rhode Island’s Access to Public Records Act (APRA). Some of the adjustments make sense, but I’m not so sure about…
For several reasons (voluntary and not-so-voluntary), I’ve been digging into Marxism a bit more over the past year. I mean both ol’ Marx himself and his followers, up to modern practitioners. One point that has come home very strongly is that the ideal that Marxists sell is actually the end toward which a system built…
A broad review of history suggests that the time to stop a dangerous social or political trend is when the changes being implemented are relatively minor and the concerns are arguably still hypothetical. At that stage, the general value of cooperation can overcome the preferences of this or that faction. As the factions disregard the…
