Jim Bauman, Author at Brain Dumping in Old Age

Making the Case for Diversity

By Jim Bauman December 18, 2024Neighborhood WatchDEI, Diversity, Immigration, Republican Opposition

Diversity used to be a good word. It expressed ideas of openness, acceptance, fairness. It was something you wanted to support. It was something that defined America. But now diversity is under attack by the Republican party and is actively being legislated against in red states. It's good vibes are being subverted and replaced by negative connotations.

The Mind of Your Better Angel

By Jim Bauman December 9, 2024Opinions and EditorialsBelief Systems, Better Angels, Points of View, Polarization

People are guided in their voting choices by their underlying belief systems. Assuming that most people's guides are kindly motivated, let's assume that these guides are angels. What would be the difference, though, between a good Left bending angel politically versus one on the Right?

I Want More Cake

By Jim Bauman December 9, 2024Opinions and EditorialsArmchair Economics, Billionaires, Greed, Mother Earth

Billionaires, even though there are relatively few of them, are accumulating more and more wealth at the expense of the "little people" all 7 billion of them. They are increasingly getting involved politically for no good reason except to become trillionaires. Mother Earth is not pleased.

DEI Becomes USA

By Jim Bauman November 26, 2024Opinions and EditorialsDEI, Diversity, Election 2024

The 2024 presidential election creates a scary picture of the future of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) for US democracy. We can speculate about what's coming, but first the MAGA movement has to rebrand itself to something less scary.

The Smarts of the MAGA Intelligentsia

By Jim Bauman September 9, 2024Opinions and EditorialsEmpathy, Intelligence, MAGA, Project 2025

The intelligence of people who have a lot of it, maybe too much, is often applied in ways that sacrifice empathy. A case in point, the scientists of Los Alamos, who created the atom bomb. Another, the political scientists who created Project 2025.

Democratic Snowflakes and Republican Ice Crystals

By Jim Bauman September 8, 2024Opinions and EditorialsDemocrats, George Lakoff, Jonathan Haidt, Republicans, War on Coal, West Virginia

Politics is a brain game in which the opposing players have to come up with strategies to persuade and convince voters. The game is played to a great extent with language wrapped up in signs and speeches. Social scientists understand more and more how to craft that language to be effective.