From Our Brains to Yours
How political should your nonprofit be?
On Friday, a federal appeals court struck down a limitation on non-profit money in politics that felt to many of us in this business, as one of my colleagues put it, like “a fact of life, like gravity.” Boiled down, the ruling cleared the way for non-profits to raise and spend unlimited money in support [...]
Thinking beyond the cycle
In politics it’s difficult to think beyond the next electoral cycle. What good is it to think about five years from now if you lose your seat – and therefore the ability to make play a part in decision making, period – in eighteen months?
I’m as guilty as the next guy and gal working in [...]
I’m going to spend $100
I’m headed out the door in a few minutes and while I’m out I’m going to spend $100. My neighbor is headed out, too, and she’s going to spend $150, but I’m just going to spend $100. Am I being smarter, getting the better deal? Will the thing I buy work?
You’re no doubt [...]
Information versus Knowledge
Flipping through this month’s issue of Wired, I found myself with a little bit of literary deja vu. In his missive, “Manufacturing Confusion: How More Information Leads to Less Knowledge,” Clive Thompson argues that the “information revolution” hasn’t brought about greater knowledge, understanding, or widespread acceptance of truth, but rather it has wrought confusion and [...]
More first principles: What is school for?
Last week, I argued that in all the hubbub about TARP dollars and stimulus spending versus tax cuts, we’re missing the point: what are our our “first principles” when it comes to the economy? Before we can decide whether the various proposals on the table are good or bad, worth the investment or not, we [...]