Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz is blasting the bipartisan budget deal that passed the Senate this week, saying the deal “went backwards” and would only worsen the nation’s spiraling debt. The budget compromise that had been championed by GOP Rep. … Continue reading
Category: Daily Dose of Reason
Beware of the “Overlap” Relationship
Dear Dr. Hurd, I’ve been in a relationship with the same woman for 10 years. (We haven’t married.) I love her, but I’ve met another woman who has swept me off my feet. We’ve been discreetly seeing one another in … Continue reading
Why Children Need Imaginative Play
A reader writes: Children lose the inner drive responsible for playing, and become bored if left alone to themselves after there is TV watching. Continuous daily TV watching completely erases the inner drive leaving the child in a bored, aimless, … Continue reading
Repressing Others: Not Only Dictators Do It
The Soviet Union used new “mental illnesses” for political repression. People who didn’t accept the beliefs of the Communist Party developed a new type of schizophrenia. They suffered from the delusion of believing communism was wrong. They were isolated, forcefully … Continue reading
Welcome to Their World, Pope Francis
The Washington Post’s online blog declares: Pope Francis—Time Magazine’s just-declared Person of the Year—is doing something no politician this side of the Atlantic can manage: He’s uniting political adversaries. The Post is referring to the Pope’s recent condemnation of capitalism, … Continue reading
Karl Pierson’s Revealing Ideas on Human Nature
Denverpost.com report [12/13/13]: The teenage gunman [Karl Pierson] who entered Arapahoe High School on Friday afternoon and shot two fellow students with a shotgun was outspoken about politics, was a gifted debater and might have been bullied for his beliefs, … Continue reading
Individualism in the Harlem Barbershop
For a fascinating social psychological study, I suggest you view the following video on You Tube: “Guy Brings His White Girl to Barbershop in Harlem.” To summarize, an ABC news team staged an incident where a black hairdresser (played by … Continue reading
School Shootings: From Columbine to “Whatever…”
School shootings are still the exception, and not the norm. Most students go through their days without any violence taking place. At the same time, school shootings have become a normal or routine exception. When we hear about them, we’re … Continue reading
Does Your Relationship “Complete” You? Then Watch Out!
In enmeshment, people feel like their well being is not complete unless they’re meeting their partner’s needs all the time. They worry that their relationship is not “close” if they’re not their partner’s shadow–“if we’re not intertwined emotionally we’re nothing.” … Continue reading
“It’s All About Me”…Know the Type?
“It’s all about him.” “It’s all about her.” You hear people say it. Maybe you’ve said it yourself, about someone you know. “She thinks she’s the Queen.” Or, “He acts like the little prince.” The analogy of arrogant royalty implies … Continue reading
Young People Defy Obamacare
Sometimes dictators miscalculate. Consider the following: More than half of those 18 to 29 years old say they disapprove of Obamacare and half expect it will increase their health-care costs, a survey by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics shows. Four … Continue reading
Mandela: The Marxist Who Couldn’t
The uncritical praise heaped upon the late Nelson Mandela leads one to consider: What actually is a leader? Leaders are sometimes victims. Mandela was certainly a victim. He was unjustly imprisoned for more than two decades by an authoritarian, racist … Continue reading