Retired professor of philosophy and logic who blogs on social, political, and economic issues. After serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he spent 20 years as a university professor and another 20 years working as a writer for various private companies. He’s an active blogger. His pieces can be found on http://www.jkozy.com/.
The Washington Post reported yesterday that "typical Blue Dogs receive significantly more money–about 25 percent–from the health-care and insurance sectors than other Democrats, putting them closer to Republicans in attracting industry support." Most of us could have drawn that conclusion ourselves.
When I was a college student, this catchy, derisive aphorism was often heard: Those who can do; those who can't teach. Clever claptrap and we all knew it; otherwise we wouldn't have been in college in the first place. Numerous people who have become absurdly rich doing what their professors taught them to do routinely donate huge sums to their alma maters. What better proof could there be?
A variation of this aphorism, however, may be true. Those who know teach, those who can do, and those who neither know nor can become members of Congress.
The American scandal of politicians asking for, receiving, and accepting money from special interests is too well known to be worth much mention. And although politicians routinely deny that those contributions influence their votes, everyone knows that politicians routinely lie. Emerson summed it up nicely: "What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say."
If you've ever wondered why the idle rich (48 percent have net worth's estimated to be at least $1 million), attorneys with unsuccessful private practices (about 30 percent), and former shopkeepers run for seats in the Congress, one possible answer is that their votes are the only things of value that they have to sell.
Are America's failures running the country? Well they certainly haven't enacted much effective legislation in the last half-century.
© 2009 John Kozy
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Replacing Kyoto with an Universally Acceptable Treaty
By: Klaus H Hemsath | 30/12/2009Extending the Kyoto Treaty failed in Copenhagen. It is not salvageable. It must be replaced by an agreement acceptable to industrialized nations, quickly developing states, and all underdeveloped countries. An acceptable concept must be based on plentiful and affordable energy for all, on ending all emissions within 50 years, on using renewable and sustainable energies only, and on retrieving past emissions by their original emitters.
Bhalessa unsung politicians & Kashmir of 1993
By: Sadaket Malik | 29/12/2009The history of the state lacks absurdly the evidence of viewpoints made by majority of unsung heroes of the state on the trouble torn Kashmir. Their Kashmir policy, handling the situation of communal disharmony over time, the pages of history are absurdly lacking the mention of such epitomes of peace who played acted as a catalyst for the cementing Hindu Muslim amity during a course of time.
Bhalessa : A road map for Achievable motherhood
By: Sadaket Malik | 29/12/2009Unfortunately, the area has been divided and has not taken care of its geographical proximity or administrative conveniences. , Bhalessa is presently a part of Bhaderwah Constituency including some little part of Bhatyas and chilly hamlets, whereas the areas like of Basnota (Kahara) and Bonjawah are part of Inderwal assembly segment. Owing to the scatteredness of these areas the composite culture has been deteriorated. The regional chauvinism led its head high due to its political dislocation
NCLB: Why it failed?
By: shashanks | 29/12/2009The federal legislation NO Child Left behind or NCLB was based on the assumption that by establishing measurable goals and setting high standards, the individual outcomes in school education can be improved to a great extent.
The Government and the Right Of Suffrage
By: 2d0k | 29/12/2009The government is the people that comprise it. The development of the government depends not on the external factors that affect it but on the way the citizens enthusiastically participate in its internal affairs. All governmental authority emanates from the people and is exercised by representatives chosen by the people. This process of choosing is what is called the exercise of the right of suffrage, or the election process.
Politics As Usual-Is That Unusual
By: sanajai | 29/12/2009Paul Kirk, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, just appointed by Governor Deval Patrick to fill
Missing sailor found in the Caribbean
By: sanajai | 29/12/2009I don’t know about most kids but when I was 14 years old the Nintendo and my bicycle were the main hobbies in my life beside sports.
Diane Sawyer and Ahmadinejad
By: John Kozy | 23/12/2009 | JournalismMainstream American journalists have long given up on any attempt to report real news. They are engaging in nothing more than National Enquirer sensationalism. ABC news is an excellent example. Whenever anyone watches any mainstream news broadcast, s/he should ask her/himself what of significance was learned that was not known beforehand. Much more often than not the answer will be Nothing! And if anyone asks why the popularity of the American mainstream press is dropping, that answer should ans
Intellectual Property, Software, and Piracy
By: John Kozy | 23/11/2009 | SoftwareSoftware manufacturers have foisted the impression on the public that software is intellectual property, but there are so many differences between the paradigms of intellectual property and software that only the naive could ever take such claims seriously.
Balderdashing Education Bashing
By: John Kozy | 14/11/2009 | EducationWhen Calvin Coolidge said "The business of America is business," he and very few if any others knew just how deep this sentiment would sink into the American consciousness. Now it seems apparent that the way business thinks has muscled every other kind of thought process out of the American mind. The unfortunate result is that if no business solution exists to an American ailment, it festers into an incurable American disease.
Killer Country
By: John Kozy | 10/11/2009 | CultureAmerica is a killing field! It has been for a very long time. Historically, the oppressed have killed their oppressors. In America the oppressed kill each other. American politicians claim that America is the free-world's leader. But what other country would want to follow America down this road? It is noteworthy that since 1789, approximately 70 nations have become democratic, but not a single one has copied the American model. Whom are we leading where? Perhaps only ourselves to perdition.
Are Settled Class Action Suits Scams?
By: John Kozy | 05/11/2009 | LawThinking about filing a class action suit? First find a lawyer who understands that if s/he is unable to negotiate a substantial award for each member of the settlement class, you will insist that the suit be taken to trial; otherwise, you are merely involving yourself in a lawyerly boondoggle in which the lawyers will use your misery to enrich themselves. If your lawyer is not going to get you and your colleagues substantial awards, at least make sure that s/he does not get any either.
Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest in Higher Education
By: John Kozy | 22/10/2009 | College & UniversityAs an elderly, former university professor, I am deeply anguished whenever I come across shameful academic writing. Such writing not only exposes the inability of the writer but it exhibits the extent of decline in American university teaching and is a symptom of a decadent civilization. Institutions that employ these writers have abandoned the classical educational ideals of truth, goodness, and beauty for belief, greed, and exploitation. And not only Americans but the whole world is paying a h
Nobel? That's No Prize
By: John Kozy | 22/10/2009 | News & SocietyExcellent journalism was never a priority of Joseph Pulitzer's, and the prizes reflect it. So does the mainstream press which is yellower than ever in both the conventional journalistic sense and the colloquial sense of cowardly. Even worse, however, are the Nobels. They are almost always given to those committed to Western civilization and Capitalism. So now Obama has gotten the prize. Why was it awarded to him? Because he is a protector of the economic status quo and a hegemonist—a true child
Mortgage Anyone?
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