Senators and Congressmen are forced to spend hours every day, making phone calls to the rich, listening intently to all their problems, promising them actions, and eventually, begging them for money. Presidential hopefuls, the leaders of their party and charismatic figureheads with supporters numbering in the millions, travel halfway around the country in order to … Continue reading The Corruption We Abide By
Author: OutlookZen
Why I’m never buying HTC again
I'm not a tech blogger, much less an activist. I usually never write reviews about tech gizmos. I just buy devices that I think will be useful, and if my expectations aren't met, I just quietly move on to some other product. But after the experience that I've had with HTC over the past month, … Continue reading Why I’m never buying HTC again
We Need Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Imagine yourself shipwrecked on a desert island, with thousands of other people. You're forced to build a society from scratch, and as part of that, you need to figure out how to design a criminal justice system. What are some goals of this system that you may have? Prevention: The system should prevent criminals from committing … Continue reading We Need Cruel and Unusual Punishment
The Two Faces of the GOP
As a lifelong democrat, I've never considered voting for the Republicans. Even when there were certain ideals that I could agree with them on - welfare reform, reduced regulation and free trade - I could still not even imagine aligning myself with the conservative movement. Beyond individual policy prescriptions, the deeper spirit and character behind … Continue reading The Two Faces of the GOP
Buy Low, Sell High: The Worst Financial Advice of All Time
As someone who’s given a number of talks on personal finance, and managing your investments, there’s one piece of advice that I keep hearing from people over and over again. “Buy low, sell high”, they usually whisper to me in a sagely tone, as though they have discovered some profound truth that will solve all … Continue reading Buy Low, Sell High: The Worst Financial Advice of All Time
The Chinese Hegemony
Given the frantic pace of the 24 hour news cycle, stepping back from it all and looking at history provides some immensely valuable perspective. The modern news cycle may care only about what happened in the past few years, but in reality, World History is measured in centuries. First there was the Roman empire. Then … Continue reading The Chinese Hegemony
Caucus: The Next-Generation Community-Discussion Forum
Regular readers have probably noticed my extremely low posting frequency lately. I would usually explain this with some excuse about being busy, but this time, I actually have a good reason behind it. I've been spending the past couple of months building a site of my own. For years, I've been frustrated by the state … Continue reading Caucus: The Next-Generation Community-Discussion Forum
Conscience Driven Politics
Around the world, xenophobia seems to be everywhere. In the US, anti-immigration rhetoric fills the airwaves in half the country. People like Donald Trump, the leading republican Presidential nominee, describe Mexican immigrants as rapists and drug dealers. Eastern European countries like Hungary are not only politically lobbying to restrict the rights of asylum seekers escaping … Continue reading Conscience Driven Politics
Avoiding the next Financial Meltdown
In a previous article, we discussed the problem with banks guaranteeing fixed deposits while actually investing the money into speculative, long-term ventures, and how such an arrangement naturally leads to bank runs. There is a second problem in this scenario as well; one that is so commonplace that most people do not even stop to … Continue reading Avoiding the next Financial Meltdown
A Financial System with Solid Foundations
The story of financial crises is one that’s as old as time. Bank runs have been occurring since the time of the renaissance, were a key factor in the great depression, and its variants have necessitated billions of dollars in bailouts in the past decade after the subprime crisis. Is this really inevitable? Is this … Continue reading A Financial System with Solid Foundations
