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“But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love … Was not Amos an extremist for justice: ‘Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.’ … And John Bunyan: ‘I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.’ And Abraham Lincoln: ‘This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.’ And Thomas Jefferson: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal….’ So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary’s hill three men…were [all] crucified for the same crime–the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth, and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation, and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”– Martin Luther King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

Perhaps you have heard people say “There is no substantive difference between the Democrats and the Republicans. The leadership of both major parties are thugs. They compete with each other to see who gets to rule, sort of like the Bloods and Crips.

A January 2019 article from FEE offers an alternative explanation – fallacy of good intentions.

Jeff Deist on 1/1/2021 wrote Welcome to Post-persuation America

Here are some excerpts

… the information age makes us less curious and willing to consider worldviews unlike our own. We have access to virtually all of humanity’s accumulated knowledge and history on devices in our pockets, but the sheer information overload causes us to dig in rather than open up. Anyone who wants to change their mind can find a whole universe of alternative viewpoints online, but very few people do…

…

Because we can always find media sources which confirm our perspective and biases—and dismiss those which don’t—the notion of politics by argument or consensus is almost entirely lost. And no matter what our political or cultural perspective, there is someone creating content tailored to suit us as stratified consumers. Thus liberals, conservatives, and people of every other ideological stripe live in vastly different digital media worlds, even when they live in close physical proximity.

…

But because information is so abundant and readily available, it becomes worth less and less. Information is cheap, literally.

For our grandparents, knowledge was analog and came with a price. Gatekeepers, in the form of media, universities, libraries, and bookstores, acted as editors and filters. Walter Cronkite, the most trusted propagandist in America, delivered one version of the news every night. The local newspaper did the same every morning. Even just thirty years ago it was often no easy task, and there was no small cost, to obtain books and literature not easily found in local or university libraries. 

I got out the day the blizzard started. Anina was trapped at my family home. Roads were closed for 5 days.

from the Wall Street Journal 12/23/2020

Local Solutions Are Better Than Bureaucracy in D.C.

How very refreshing to read Gerald Seib’s “Far From Washington,
Americans Are Finding Solutions”
(Review, Dec. 12). It is preposterous
to believe the large, sclerotic, bureaucratic government in Washington can understand, let alone solve,
the problems of 330 million citizens,
50 states and countless counties, cities and towns therein. Many will remember Ronald Reagan’s rousing
declaration: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language
are: I’m from the government, and
I’m here to help.”
JACK LOCHRIE
Farmington Hills, Mich.

Would people demand that the government have less power if its leaders were selected by chance? If the President, and Congress members were selected by lot the public would never know who would be in charge. It is the power that we have given to the government that is the problem. Most people think that if we could only elect the right people we would have good government.

Sortition – Wikipedia

Recently our chief news scout, Barbara Scolnick, forwarded a link to The Commonwealth Fund report How the Biden Administration Can Act to Strengthen Medicaid | Commonwealth Fund

Reviewing their suggestions for the Biden Administration, we didn’t see any policy recommendations that would reduce federal government spending.

Whenever more spending is recommended, the protagonists should either indicate where spending should be reduced, or what taxes should be raised or if they support growing the federal government debt.

Setting priorities and using them to live within your means is what grown-ups are supposed to do.

This site was previously titled “From the Desk of Ben Bachrach”. On December 19, 2020, the name was changed to Tranquility Policy Institute.

This change was made to recognize that in today’s culture, individual’s are mostly no longer significant – everyone needs an organization or better yet be considered an institution.

The Tranquility Policy Institute’s mission is to promote policies that will increase both domestic and worldwide tranquility.

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“Being a victim of the state in no way entitles someone to use the state against anyone else.” – Walter Block 2007