How to Overcome Big Challenges?

While working on significant technical, economic, and geopolitical projects over the years, I’ve developed several mental frameworks that help to create clarity whenever I’m confronting a significant challenge. Most challenges in life are magnified by irrational fear and self-consciousness, but those are just symptoms of a deeper issue: Lacking the ability to visualize a goal […]

The Birth of the Modern Welfare State

The modern age in the field of Economics was born from the destruction of Europe in World War I. That war inspired a young British economist—John Maynard Keynes—to closely examine the mechanics of international exchange between nations, which was increasingly necessary to manage the enormous international debts and flows of capital and goods during and […]

The Secret History of the War on Drugs

The “War on Drugs” Begins. In 1971, U.S. President Nixon declared the “War on Drugs”. He said, “America’s public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse,” but Nixon’s domestic policy chief, John Ehrlichman, said in 1994 before he died: The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had […]

Are You Possessed by the Demon of Political Correctness?

Praise Feels Good . . . My book, Broken Capitalism: This Is How We Fix It, has received almost universally positive praise from humans across the socioeconomic spectrum. In fact, some of the most glowing reviews have come from “non-white” readers. Non-white humans have literally hugged me on the streets of New York City after […]

Should We Blame Rich People?

The Evolution of Blame. It’s human nature to seek scapegoats to blame when things break. The reasons for this are deeply rooted in the evolutionary development of group behavior. In prehistoric times, when an individual in a tribe did something that hurt the tribe, they were punished with a brutal beating that often resulted in […]

Justice, Power & Wisdom

We All Lose from Systemic Injustice. I have a good friend who is a founder of a multibillion-dollar company who has been thoroughly eviscerated by a biased judge in a protracted court battle. In fact, I know several people who have been on the receiving end of court decisions that were substantially corrupted by institutional […]

Abortion & the Value of Human Life

Value Systems Should be Based on Facts. The values of a society are either based on facts or they are not. If values are not based on facts, then they are based on delusions, fantasies, myths, lies, or propaganda (i.e., half-truths and deception to conceal truth). Societies with values based on lies and propaganda are […]

Unknown Truth or Untrue Conspiracy?

Why is Truth Often Disregarded as a Conspiracy Theory? This is an important question because a society that can’t distinguish between truth and untrue conspiracy will inevitably suffer a breakdown in its economic, political, and social systems. As a former Cryptological Linguist and Intelligence Analyst for the U.S. Government with a Top-Secret security clearance, I […]

The Real Power of the Mind-Body Connection

Most adults understand the mind has a powerful impact on how the body responds to events in our lives. However, I still meet many accomplished and educated people who scoff at the possibility that they might be underestimating how much their perception of stress in their lives is responsible for creating their physical ailments. This article explores this interesting phenomenon. The Epidemic […]