Take a Bromo

A barrel of oil has 12,000 man hours of labor in it. There are one billion destitute poor in this world. China and India put up a coal powered electric plant every other week. We aren't getting off of oil or coal.

James talks about cultures that are better than others. My take on it is that certain cultures are better at producing goods and services but not necessarily better overall. It's a fine distinction of course but it tends to allow for good discussion.

As a case in point I remember a lecture by Dr. Jennifer Paxton (her lectures are wonderful) on the Great Courses series. She described the ancient Celtic (Irish) culture and was comparing it to Anglo-Saxon culture. She noted the legal system for the Irish where if a man was caught stealing cattle from another clan, the family elders would be called together from all over to debate and decide the fitting punishment. This was very time and resource intensive.

On the Anglo-Saxon side there was a proscribed punishment in law regardless of what the family elders thought. A single judge could consult the law and punish the wrongdoer. The Anglo-Saxon system was more efficient.

As Dr. Paxton described it my thought still questioned which system was better? The Anglo-Saxon was more efficient but the Irish system perhaps was more fitting and a better chance of a good outcome for the perpetrator and the victim. The Irish system may get more buy-in from all involved.

Overall the Anglo-Saxon judicial system appears to be more widely adopted but critics abound. Which system is better? We all can judge but often humans look for the easy way out (efficiency). Sometimes the easy way out works well and sometimes it's just more economic.

Brian J Bergs (View Comment):

James talks about cultures that are better than others. My take on it is that certain cultures are better at producing goods and services but not necessarily better overall. It’s a fine distinction of course but it tends to allow for good discussion.

James is too polite to say this but what he means is that Somali and Pakistani culture are about the worst cultures ever and we can't learn from them. Most aren't so extreme.

Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

How is the most anti-China President ever soft on China? It’s totally fine to say he should go harder but to condemn Trump as if the K-street Depublicans and the Democrats had any backbone or principles against the CCP’s perfidy is crazy.

Rob is in some kind of bubble. He embarrassed himself. It seems like Rob is stick in 2005.