Richard Sahn As a sociology professor, I’m often frustrated when I attempt to teach my students what reification is–treating or thinking of an abstract concept, usually the name of a country, state, ball team, or institution as if were a reality sui generis. That is to say, reification is regarding an abstract concept, say the USA, as if…
When I entered the Air Force in 1985, I grabbed a pamphlet by Brian M. Jenkins of Rand. The title caught my eye: International Terrorism: The Other World War. Back then, the country was focused on the Cold War against the Evil Empire of the Soviet Union. Jenkins suggested there was another war we should…
A good friend of mine wrote to me the other day about an increasingly rare privilege he enjoyed, courtesy of a visitor from Europe. In my friend’s words, Yesterday we had a friend visit from Europe. We sat from about 7 PM to midnight just talking about anything from personal or work problems to politics…
Harley Earl was Vice President of Styling for General Motors and considered the father of American automotive design. Since its inception in the 1920s, GM styling was based on a concept known as “artificial obsolescence,” which involved redesigning and retooling the entire line of cars every two years so that car owners would want to…
B. Traven wrote the best selling book, The Death Ship, when people still read serious books. Traven was a pseudonym for the author who never revealed where he lived or his real name to his publishers. It was for good reason. He had been condemned to death in Germany by the Social Democratic government which…
The Contrary Perspective 