SARS-Cov-2 and Conspiracy Theories

SARS-Cov-2 is a novel virus, meaning that humans have never before encountered it. But it is also just one more in a pattern of pathogens that have, at a particular time, moved from the animal kingdom and spread widely among the human population, striking down some and passing over others. Given these facts—that it is new, and it is deadly—it is little wonder that all sorts of explanations are proffered. People do what...

Does Rudolf Steiner Believe in Viruses?

Here is a great example of why we have to be careful with Steiner quotes. This one is from GA 185, 3rd lecture (From Symptom to Reality in Modern History). “But bacilli, as such, are of course in no way connected with disease. In phenomena of this kind we must realize that just as behind the symptoms of history we are dealing with psychic and spiritual experiences, so too behind somatic symptoms we are dealing with...

Common Sense on Covid and the Death Rate

There are many facts and opinions swirling around about the virus, the response, and everything in between. There is a lot of virus-denialism that appears more rooted in wishful thinking than a considerations of the facts. The wisdom of shutting down the economy is questioned; a quite legitimate issue in a democracy. And the very nature of the virus is up for grabs. Unfortunately so much of the commentary and quick-takes...

Did Rudolf Steiner write the “We Must Eradic...

The following verse, usually attributed to Rudolf Steiner, has been has been very popular lately. Steiner wrote a lot of verses for many different purposes. But this one is not one one of them. The first part is a versification of a paragraph from a 1910 lecture. The second part is demonstrably pseudoepigraphical. More on that below. (For those wondering, pseudoepigraphical means “falsely attributed”; it is a...

What to make of Göbekli Tepe from an Anthroposophi...

Göbekli Tepe is an archaeological site in central Turkey with stone structures and carvings at least 11,000 years old. Mapping Steiner’s timeline to external history, to say nothing of geology, proves quite challenging. Everything back to the end of the 3rd post-atlantean epoch works quite well. Earlier than that gets progressively more challenging. The Theosophical tradition was quite big on exact dates and patterns,...

Hillary Clinton and the Question of Corruption

If you spend any amount of time around the right-wing media you will invariably hear throwaway phrases like, “Hillary Clinton – most corrupt politician ever”, or “Hillary Clinton’s extreme corruption”. But if you check her criminal record you will discover that she has never been indicted, much less charged or convicted, of any crime. What are we to make of this? Voices on the left will...

How Obama and Hillary Clinton destroyed the Democr...

First off, some definitions. What is the Democratic Party? The Democratic a voluntary association of people who share political priorities. Because it exists in the US constitutional system, it serves as one of the two major parties in the US. The US constitutional system has a “first past the post” voting method which inevitably results in a political system with only two parties; such has it been since about...

The Structural Problem with Heath Insurance

So here’s the dirty secret about health insurance companies: They don’t really care what the rules of the marketplace are. They are insurance pools. They will price their policies based on whatever it costs to pay out the claims and have a little left over. (Health insurance companies average about 5% profits, FWIW). Change the rules so the pools are full of sick people, and they will adjust prices upwards...

Thoughts on Income Inequality

In an article so blind to the obvious that it might as well be willful, The Wall Street Journal opined, “Americans Are Richer Than Ever, But They Don’t Feel That Way: U.S. household net worth is expected to hit another record, but that won’t mean much to most people”. And not once does the article mention income inequality. Boiling the problem down to the simplest example, let me point out that, between us, Bill Gates and I...

Unintended Consequences of Mass Deportations

Conservatives were once famous for embracing the principle of the Law of Unintended Consequences. It was usually from the conservative side that any radical change was opposed with the common-sense observation that the change may well unleash a host of second-order consequences well beyond what was originally intended. Our political discourse is littered with warnings from the right about the dangerous consequences of all...

Bannon and Strauss-Howe generational theory

Strauss-Howe generational theory is in the news lately, if not in the headlines. Steve Bannon, Trump’s campaign strategist and primary advisor, gave an address at the CPAC (that is the Conservative Political Action Committee convention) in which he laid out his vision. And the vision that he laid out included a reference to Strauss-Howe generational theory without specifically naming it. An analysis I read by an opinion...

How to make a difference in politics: A practical ...

A democratic Republic such as ours is a large and complex system. So the very first thing you should give up is the idea that you will quickly and easily make a huge impact. I know it is disappointing, but the system isn’t quickly or easily changed, and that is ultimately good thing. That said, there are three paths along which you can, over time, make a difference: activism, operative, and elected office. Let’s take these...