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Harman's Honbu
Politics, History, Current Events
Prof. Harman's random opining about political matters and his versions of history.


2 Public Issues, 2 Cases To Provide Clarity
1. Private vs. Socialized Healthcare Two women are diagnosed in the same week at the same hospital with the same, aggressive cancer. One woman happens to be very wealthy with a great, executive position in a top corporation. Her health care covers every form of treatment available, for as long as she needs it. Thanks to a comprehensive combination of radiation, chemo, and immuno-therapy treatments, she goes into remediation and lives a normal life for many years.
williamharman43
Mar 84 min read


The Scope of Patriarchy
Between the rise of explicit, celebratory, toxic masculinity online, the buy-in of the Republican party to a MAGA version of the same, and then the Epstein nightmare, it certainly makes sense that I’m seeing a lot of posts trying to get people to see that our root problem is patriarchy. I only take issue with how the posts conflate misogyny with all of patriarchy. Misogyny is definitely an outcome of patriarchy, but conflating the two under-reports the patriarchal values wh
williamharman43
Feb 2712 min read


Insidious Signs
Way out here in Walla Walla, Washington, we have a town dispute. There's this guy who goes through town chalking right wing slogans. He has support from one of the local, evangelical churches plus he is cheered on by folks on the right. His chalking is opposed by moderates and folks on the Left, since what he writes is often directed specifically against immigrants, women, and LGBTQ+ people. Supporters frame it as free speech, opponents frame it as hate speech. To try to
williamharman43
Feb 66 min read


Revolution Documentary vs. Classroom U.S. History
In a posted review of Ken Burns’ Revolution documentary, the author expressed how disappointed he was in his high school history class. His reasoning was if Ken Burns could make this so interesting and enlightening, why couldn't school?
I could write my next book just answering that question.
williamharman43
Dec 6, 20255 min read


Winning?
Here’s something Trump said last week: “We won World War II, we won World War I, we won everything before that and in between…”. He went on to say that changing the name of the Department of War to the Department of Defense was “woke” and implies that this is why we lost subsequent conflicts. The idea that we clearly and simply won every war we’d fought before the 1960’s is the propagandized version of our history that has been traditionally taught in our schools. Being broug
williamharman43
Sep 7, 20257 min read


Our True Power is Soft
Current events are providing some vital learning moments about how power really works in the world and how it does not. Scholars in political science, economics, and game theory will have a lot to work with in the coming years based upon what is happening now. Most of us are not scholars in any of those fields, so cannot claim to provide explanations which resolve into coherent theories. This should not prevent any of us from expressing our understanding to the best of our
williamharman43
Jun 14, 20257 min read
The End is Nigh
The primacy of the individual, the great accomplishment of Western thought, is almost over. If we look at Eastern thought, the interest...
williamharman43
Mar 20, 20253 min read
Early 21st Century, U.S. Rationality
{We are in a courtroom – judge, jury, prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, defendant, bailiff, a few people in the gallery.} Judge –...
williamharman43
Mar 20, 20255 min read
The Way for Democrats to Win: Do What We Believe
Wm. Gregory Harman Politico, admittedly a Left-leaning source, reported in early March...
williamharman43
Mar 17, 20257 min read
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