I’ve decided to end the year off on a positive note by talking about three different things I’m hoping to see in the coming year. Of course, a comprehensive list of the trends and policies I would like to witness in 2020 would run for thousands of words. And of course, many of these policy …
Author Archives: Søren
Addressing Food Deserts
For those of us who live in areas with several different supermarkets nearby, the idea of living in a food desert may be hard to imagine. A food desert is defined as an area where residents do not have access to fresh fruits and vegetables because supermarkets are too far away. These regions can be …
Objectivity vs. Neutrality
We often hear about biased media outlets, and many people express the desire to have news reporters who do not express their personal ideology or biases into their own coverage. Two terms are often used to describe such reporting: objectivity and neutrality. Although these two words are sometimes used interchangeably, they are not synonyms. The …
Youtube Algorithm: Let’s Call it Censorship
Last month, I was given a Youtube video to show to my class. This video was published on CNN’s Youtube channel. The things I noticed right away about this 4-minute clip is the number of views it had: about 4,000. The video was published in 2010, but if it was published this year, I have …
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National Parks: the Worthless Lands Hypothesis
There is no question that our most famous national parks such as Yellowstone or Yosemite contain majestic scenery that is an important American cultural resource. In addition, these parks are important to preserving relatively wild natural areas. The national parks, however, are far from a representative sample of the United State’s many ecosystems. Many habitats …
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Universal, Not Means-Tested Programs
A host of bold policies have been proposed by some of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. In recent weeks, however, a debate has arisen over the advantages and disadvantages of universal versus means-tested programs. A universal program is one that is available to everyone and provides the same benefits to everyone, regardless of income. Means-tested …
The Meidner Plan: Sweden’s Near Miss at Economic Democracy
In recent years, policies and ideas that promote economic democracy (such as public banks and worker cooperatives) have entered the public discourse. No longer seen as impossible dreams or foolish utopian strategies, these policies are now seen by some as a crucial element of building a stable and just society. This blog concerns a comprehensive …
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Geoengineering Is Not the Answer
The data don’t lie. Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have been steadily increasing in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution, and today the atmospheric concentration of this greenhouse gas is higher than it has been for millennia. 3 million years ago, when atmospheric CO2 concentrations were the same as they are currently (407.8 ppm as of …
Putting a Price Tag on Nature
To truly comprehend Earth’s biodiversity is to accomplish the incredible. Around 1.3 million species have been discovered by scientists, and an estimated total of 8.7 million species inhabit this planet. As one might expect, rainforests (which cover a mere 3% of the planet’s surface area) contain a disproportionate amount of species. The Amazon Rainforest alone …
Trivia Time: The Swedish Island of Ytterby
If you look at the periodic table, you’ll see four elements that have rather similar names: Yttrium (Y), Erbium (Er), Terbium (Tb), and Ytterbium (Yb). This is not just a coincidence; all four of these elements were discovered in a mine in a place called Ytterby. Pronounced itter-bee, this Swedish village is found on an …
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Green Humanist 