Institutions

Douglas W. Allen. The Institutional Revolution: Measurement and the Economic Emergence of the Modern World. 267 pp. University of Chicago. (2012).
Throughout this book the hypothesis speaks with one voice: a logical, economic connection exists between a wide range of bizarre pre-modern rules and customs, and the evolution of these institutions into the modern world. What on the surface seem to be archaic, inefficient institutions created by people who just did not know better, turn out to be ingenious solutions to the measurement problems of the day." (227)

American Airlines: The Saga Continues

We won't know until at least Monday but it appears that American Airlines is going the way of Eastern and Pan Am. US Air has gotten the unions on board for a buyout plan. Let me say right now, I do not like US Air. It is trying to make a right out of two wrongs, the merger of Allegheny and Piedmont. If the buyout takes place, it will have a major economic impact on this region. US Air has promised the moon, that there will be little dislocation, but do we trust them?
American has always had a problem with its unions and it now looks as though that problem will be fatal. When we view the comments and activities of the unions, we can begin to understand managements viewpoint a little better.
There remain some unanswered questions, such as what are the pension benefits that are at stake? Are they in the GM, City of San Diego range? What is the take home pay for a machinist or a pilot or a flight attendant? How do they compare with the competition? 'Just some thoughts...

Texas Department of Motor Vehicles

Yesterday I had to go to the DMV to get the title changed on my car. We all know the horror stories, the low comedy (Patty and Selma from The Simpsons come immediately to mind). But I must say, this time it was fast, efficient, and friendly. There were twenty one people ahead of me and I was out of there in less than thirty minutes. CHEERS.

Rangers April 18

The Rangers just finished a quick two-game series in Boston with a sweep, 18-3, 6-3. We definitely need someone new to kick extra points. Seriously, Josh Hamilton is hitting everything and Mike Napoli is getting hot. Derek Holland and Colby Lewis are looking good. A little worried about Joe Nathan, but maybe it's just rust.
The weekend series against the Tigers is shaping up to be big. The top two records in the American League. Both teams are among the leaders in hitting and pitching. Of course, we won't hear that much about it in the national press because Boston and New York are playing. What a shame.

More Nisbet

The merit of Tocqueville's analysis [in Democracy in America] is that it points directly to the heart of totalitarianism- the masses; the vast aggregates who are never tortured, flogged or imprisoned, or humiliated; who instead are cajoled, flattered, stimulated by the rulers; but who nonetheless are relentlessly destroyed as human beings, ground down into mere shells of humanity. And the genius of his analysis lies in the view of totalitarianism as something not historically "abnormal" but as closely related to the very trends hailed as progressive in the nineteenth century.
-The Quest for Community. (171)

Robert Nisbet

The liberal values of autonomy and freedom of personal choice are indispensable to a genuinely free society, but we shall achieve and maintain these only by vesting them in the conditions in which liberal democracy will thrive- diversity of culture, plurality of association and division of authority.
The Quest for Community. (247)

More Gordon Allport

The final truths of religion are unknown, but a psychology that impedes understanding of the religious potentialities of man scarcely deserves to be called a logos of the human psyche at all.
-Becoming. (98)

Gordon W. Allport

The theory of democracy requires...that man possess a measure of rationality, a portion of freedom, a generic conscience, propriate ideals, and unique values. We cannot defend the ballot box or liberal education, nor advocate free discussion and democratic institutions, unless man has the potential capacity to benefit therefrom.
-Becoming. (100)

Rangers 2012

The Texas Rangers are entering their second full week of the season with a 7-2 record. The pitching has been stellar. Yu Darvish looks to be worth the investment. What is interesting is some of the younger players who are in utility roles at present. The future looks good.

The Three Books that Have Impacted Me

Several years ago, when interviewing for a teaching job, I was asked to name the three books that have had an impact on me. Since then I have thought a great deal about how I would answer that question in relation to my teaching of history. Here is how it stands at present.
First would be Robert E. Lee and the Road of Honor by Hodding Carter. In the 1960s Random House brought out a series of history books for children written by journalists, the Landmark Series. This was the first history book I had ever read and I was hooked. I reread it about five years ago and it still holds up, informative, easy to understand and well-written.
Next would be Charles Beard's Economic Interpretation of the Constitution. Granted the book is nearly a century old and many subsequent works have been written to refute it but Beard still retains an impact on all students of American History. Harold Bloom wrote in The Anxiety of Influence that Shakespeare has a pervasive influence on contemporary man even if he is not read because of his impact on not just language but our view of humanity. Beard's influence is similar for historians because of his emphasis on research.
Third would be a work better classified as political philosophy. That is The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt. In this massive tome Arendt posits the steps that lead to a totalitarian government. First, Anti-Semitism, then Imperialism, finally totalitarianism. This book has affected my thought about US History. If we change Anti-Semitism to Racism, can we apply Arendt's thesis to the United States?

Community

The processes that have led to the release of the individual from the old customs and solidarities have led also to a loss of moral certainties, a confusion of cultural meanings, and a disruption of established social contexts. We cannot, in sum, deal with the progressive emancipation of individuals without also recognizing the decline of those structures from which the individual has been emancipated. Judgments of progress must always be specific and selective; they cannot be disengaged from opposing judgments of decline and disruption.
-Robert Nisbet. The Quest for Community. (70)