Why on Earth?
Why on Earth...? is a series of articles by Bradley Doucet. They dig under the skin of today's politics and cultural issues and ask what is behind today's trends, policies, and beliefs. "Check your premises," Ayn Rand admonished us all. Having done some premise-checking, Bradley Doucet takes a second look around him and asks "Why on Earth...?"
Bradley Doucet is the English Editor for Le Québécois Libre and a regular contributor to The New Individualist. A writer living in Montreal, he has studied philosophy and economics, and is currently completing a novel on the pursuit of happiness.
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Why on Earth---Do Unions Oppose Education Reform? Teacher's Unions have stood four-square for lifetime protection against doing good work. Brad explains why and what do to about it. Will Obama come through on education reform?
— Bradley Doucet (11/10/2009)
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Why on Earth---Are Vampires So Hot? It's Hallowe'en: do you think being a vampire would be cool? It isn't. And why would anyone think so?
— Bradley Doucet (10/30/2009)
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Why on Earth---Would Anyone Trust Michael Moore? Michael Moore lies with misleading images and juxtapositions and with warped chronology. He lies by omission and implication. There is a difference between a point of view and outright bias.
— Bradley Doucet (10/14/2009)
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Why on Earth---Do Americans Need Protection from Chinese Tires? President Obama is a hypocrite on free trade. Don't Chinese have the right to make and sell tires?
— Bradley Doucet (10/3/2009)
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Why on Earth---Is Health Such a Low Priority? Too many people don't take responsibility for the most important thing in their lives: their own health and fitness.
— Bradley Doucet (9/23/2009)
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Why on Earth... Are We So Polarized? Conservatives don't understand liberals, and liberals don't understand conservatives. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt has some answers for why, and what we can do about it.
— Bradley Doucet (9/5/2009)
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Why on Earth---Should We Cash in Our Clunkers? Frederic Bastiat proved over 150 years ago that you can't make people rich by breaking their windows. Now, the "Cash for Clunkers" program has been breaking-up cars: will it make us richer?
— Bradley Doucet (8/28/2009)
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Why on Earth---Do Leaders So Often Disappoint? Bradley Doucet argues that democratically elected leaders always disappoint their supporters. Why? Read on.
— Bradley Doucet (8/11/2009)
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Why on Earth---Can’t I Sell You My Kidney? People are dying because most countries expect organ donors to provide kideys for free. Banning the trade in organs is immoral and gives us a preview of what banning free market health care will mean.
— Bradley Doucet (8/1/2009)
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Why on Earth---Is Health Care “Different”? U.S. health Care is no more in need of a government takeover than is U.S. agriculture.
— Bradley Doucet (7/24/2009)
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Why on Earth---Haven’t We Been Back to the Moon? Bradley Doucet argues that only the private sector is going to get us to the moon for good.
— Bradley Doucet (7/17/2009)
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Why on Earth... Is FedEx Crying “Bailout”? FedEx is fighting UPS and Congress over union rules. In pushing for the rules, is UPS asking for a bailout? In shouting "bailout," has FedEx lost the moral high ground?
— Bradley Doucet (6/19/2009)
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Why on Earth---Are You So Glum, Class of 2009? The sky isn't falling, Graduates, and you'd know that if you approached today's issues objectively.
— Bradley Doucet (6/12/2009)
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Why on Earth---Did We Mortgage the Future? The industrialized world is forgetting the virtues that made it great. Instead, we borrow without end, take technology for granted, and have forgotten prudent savings behavior. It can't continue.
— Bradley Doucet (6/4/2009)
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Why on Earth---Does Journalism Need Saving? A free press is vital to civilization and democratic government. A subsidized or nationalized press is a danger to both.
— Bradley Doucet (5/28/2009)
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Why on Earth---Are Women Still Oppressed Around the World? The denial of women's rights as free individuals is not just a curse of those living under fanatical muslim regimes. It's still present even today in the freest countries of the world.
— Bradley Doucet (5/20/2009)
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Why on Earth---Is There No Money in Star Trek? Scarcity, and the need to innovate and create independently, will always be with us. To pretend otherwise is to deny that which makes advanced technology possible.
— Bradley Doucet (5/10/2009)
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Why on Earth... Do We Believe in the “Hot Hand”? Do basketball players get "hot" or "cold" shooting hoops? Or are players, coaches, and fans just misjudging normal statistical variations? It isn't easy being rational, but reason is the key to virtuous life, and to success in sports, too.
— Bradley Doucet (5/2/2009)
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Why on Earth... Are So Many Americans Uninsured? Are 46 million Americans uninsured? No, perhaps a quarter of them are. Has the free market failed? No, it's regulation and bad ideas at work.
— Bradley Doucet (4/24/2009)
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Why on Earth… Are We So Worried about the Planet? Environmentalism is the luxury religion of people who haven't had to worry about material threats for generations: the citizens of rich, industrialized societies. We need to dump the guilt and approach environmental issues rationally with a clear view of the potential for innovation and technological advancement.
— Bradley Doucet (4/18/2009)
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Why on Earth---Do We Tolerate Bullying? Deterministic explanations tend to excuse bullying, not address it. What's needed is an approach based in the rational self-interest of the bully.
— Bradley Doucet (4/10/2009)
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Why on Earth---Does Obama Think He Can Run the Car Companies? The Obama administration has embraced a "fatal conceit": that being in government somehow makes one all-seeing, all-knowing, and wise.
— Bradley Doucet (4/3/2009)
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Why on Earth---Does the War on (Some) Drugs Continue? Bradley Doucet takes aim at a cancer destroying lives worldwide: the war against drugs.
— Bradley Doucet (3/26/2009)
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Why on Earth---Don’t We End Government-Run Ponzi Schemes? Bradley Doucet knows a Ponzi scheme when he sees one. The worst? The Social Security system.
— Bradley Doucet (3/19/2009)
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Why on Earth---Should Agriculture be Subsidized at All? Bradley Doucet gives Barack Obama backhanded praise for trying to do something about agriculture subsidies, and explains how agriculture subsidies harm everyone.
— Bradley Doucet (3/6/2009)
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Why on Earth---Do Some Still Blame Vaccines for Autism? Bradley Doucet sees if logic can shed light on the question of whether vaccination has any relation to autism.
— Bradley Doucet (2/25/2009)
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Why on Earth---Are We So Afraid of Flying? Bradley Doucet asks "Why on Earth are we so aftraid of flying?" Don't we have better things to be afraid of? How can we get over this irrational fear?
— Bradley Doucet (2/19/2009)
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Why on Earth---Doesn’t the U.S. End the Cuban Embargo? Bradley Doucet asks what the real effects of the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba are.
— Bradley Doucet (2/11/2009)
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Why on Earth---Is Protectionism Still Popular? Bradley Doucet wonders why people still think they can benefit from decreasing economic efficiency and penalizing their neighbors and trade partners.
— Bradley Doucet (2/4/2009)
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Autism and Vaccines and the Burden of Proof - Bradley Doucet Responds Bradley Doucet replies to letters regarding "Why on Earth...Do Some Still Blame Vaccines for Autism?" |