All one has to do to see the devastation that has been brought by drug use and its impact on the potential of human capital is to go to Pioneer Square in Seattle or go two blocks from Temple Square in Salt Lake City or go to Portland or any of our major cities. The […]
Author: Dr. John Livingston
Several years ago, I was honored to have lunch with one of the “Grand Dames” of Idaho Republican politics. She and her husband had built several businesses and raised a wonderful family. Her children had built their own businesses, and one became a lawyer. The lunch occurred during one of the many debates in the […]
Where Does Woke Come From?
The central preoccupation and conversation in our society today, in politics, in economics, and in religion and culture is centering around the idea of “Wokeness”. Many disciplines are claiming responsibility for introducing “woke” concepts into the worlds of law, business, academia, and our everyday social interactions. This idea did not just spring up “de novo” […]
The Concentration of Power
Before I begin my discussion about the ever-increasing concentration of power into government bureaucracies at all levels, let me say that I have tremendous admiration and respect for people who put themselves and their families on the line to run for public office, and if elected serve, many times sitting at endless meetings and briefings […]
Leadership
Arguments of the extreme have been the tool of the progressive movement since the early part of the twentieth century. Both Democratic and Republican progressives have painted conservatives in a corner. The progressive arguments have always been theoretical. They are never empiric. They claim the moral high ground without ever establishing a moral predicate. Such […]
Medicaid Expansion has been a dismal failure and as we predicted ten years ago the people most adversely impacted have been the people that Medicaid was originally designed to help. These are people living on the margins with chronic diseases who through no fault of their own cannot provide for their own medical care. I […]
Wilberforce
The “Anglosphere” has recently taken a big hit as the world has become enthralled with theories of wokeness, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and pushers of Critical Theory (CRT) like Ibrim X. Kendi have raged this weekend on numerous progressive platforms and networks at the news of Claudine Gay resigning from her position as president of […]
A Still Noble Profession
I have been following health care polling by Rasmussen, CNN, and Gallup since March 23rd, 2010, when President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. Since 2018—before Covid, the general public’s feeling about the insurance system and health provider networks has become increasingly more negative. https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/19/health/us-health-care-poll-gallup/index.html Beginning early this year, the patients who have […]
College Division 1 football is in the throes of early anarchy. There is much to learn from the misadministration of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) that can be applied to any field of endeavor, but especially to anyone who believes that the cure to any problem is money alone. Decisions are being made by […]
Home on the Range
I was born in North Dakota and like almost every child growing up in “The Prairie Rose” State I have seen for myself the ruts in the prairie running for many miles where wild buffalo used to roam. From our current vantage point in history, we are disgusted with the stories of the willful slaughter […]
Neopatrimonialism Versus Liberty
Patrimonialism is a form of governance in which all power flows from the ruler or the top of an organization to the bottom. The sovereign-ruler-ruling class controls individual liberty. The line between public and private domains is blurred and the oligarchic and autocratic power brokers exclude “WE THE PEOPLE”—all classes of people, from power. We […]
Several times this week while listening to political pundits on both sides of the spectrum the word “Extremism” or “EXTREMIST” has been used. The Big question for me is who decides what is extreme? King George certainly felt that the Colonial American Patriots were extreme. Members of the Jewish religious hierarchy certainly felt that Jesus […]