Remark of the day

Israel’s leaders are guilty, Palestinians are punished

December 01, 2023
Life and politics

Days after the October 7 attack, an attentive observer would doubt that the Israeli intelligence service did not know about it coming. The New York Times put its fingers on it, and now we know Hamas called it the Jericho Wall operation, and Israelis had ongoing information about it for at least one year. The NYT is buying an official Israeli’s explanation that people who should act on that intelligence screwed it up. Jews are about 0.2% of the worldwide population, but they have collected 22% of all Nobel Prizes. Should we buy it that today’s government of Israel consists only of its dumbest citizens? If they screwed up as The NYT claims, should not they be fired en masse? Instead of being punished, they are now in charge of punishing Palestinians for their own faults. Something is not right here.

Israel lost against Hamas before October 7, 2023

November 06, 2023
Life and politics, Media

The media do not question Israel’s attempt to destroy Hamas by military force. It would have been done a long time ago if it were possible. The more Palestinians die in Gaza now, the more recruits Hamas will have. The more depriving conditions for Palestinians in Gaza will be, the more time they will have to make babies, who – time flies by fast – 20 years later will join the fight.

Israel lost against Hamas in the West Bank. More peaceful Palestinians there are systemically deprived of their land, their rights, and basic human dignity. If Israel allowed them to prosper, Hamas would have no support in Gaza.

The misery of Palestinians in the West Bank, in the eyes of Hamas, justified the barbarian attack on October 7. The ferocity of Israel’s response confirms Hamas’s contention that the Israelis are no better.

In the war, they kill the truth first

October 11, 2023
Life and politics

A question that the media avoid asking about the war in Israel: How could the best secret service in the world not detect such a tremendous accumulation of military hardware in Gaza? They intercepted military transfers in the past.

Also, they have a network of informers in Gaza. Thousands of Gaza residents were involved in preparations. Not all of them are fanatic terrorists. Even without getting paid, some might give a warning.

Media pundits elaborate on intelligence failures or errors in the Israeli defense tactics. A reasonable person would not buy it. It is more likely that some in Israel knew what was coming and decided not to stop it before it happened.

Who will investigate that?

Is Putin a rational person?

September 25, 2023
Ukraine

With the war in Ukraine still far from over, many ask if starting it was rational. Some experts claim it was. They reconstruct the possible logical thinking of the Russian political and military elite. They acknowledge that rational does not always mean good or moral. One of those experts is Professor John Mearsheimer, with whom I disagreed recently. This time, I have to agree: Putin’s rationality was that of a criminal who believed he could go unpunished.

It is more than antisemitism

September 05, 2023
Life and politics, Media

Elon Musk complains that ADL accuses X of tolerating antisemitic posts. There always had been people who hate others who differ by appearance, religion, or views. But not always intolerance finds a welcoming audience. As a political writer of sharp opinions, I noticed increased hatred from people disagreeing with me. Hence, I believe that antisemitism might be on the rise, too. Behind that is the worsening economic situation of most Americans. Due to the collusion of the media and politics, Americans do not have sincere public discussions about their problems. Prognoses are gloomy. ADL acts as if they do not know that monsters wake up when the reason is asleep. Musk aspires to fix it through public debates on X. He cannot ignore the reality to succeed. Not liking the facts, ADL tries to undermine Musk’s efforts and, by that, supports spreading antisemitism.

Left is not right, and right is wrong

August 29, 2023
Health care

In 2009, when Obamacare was proposed, I put a lot of effort into understanding the muddle of our health care policy. I learned a lot from John C. Goodman. His book, “Priceless,” is not easy to read, but it is a must to know the basics. His lecture, which I attended, was eye-opening. I subscribe to his newsletter.

Today, I received an email with his article about a new book about universal health care. I reviewed that book earlier. The title of Dr. Goodman’s op-ed is scary: “Can the Left and Right Agree on Health Reform?” The arguments are confusing.

Trying to combine the ideas of Amy Finkelstein with the concepts of John C. Goodman is like finding a way that certain cars follow the right-hand traffic rule while others follow the left-hand traffic rule on the same streets. We have it now in health care, which is precisely why it does not work. The left is not right about health care. The right is wrong in seeking compromises instead of promoting a full-blown free market solution.

The GOP of Reagan is gone

August 25, 2023
Life and politics

There are two objectives in governing. The first is creating a political environment where individuals pursuing their happiness can enrich themselves and the nation. The second is to distribute that wealth in a way so even more people can multiply it. After all, this was how America became great the first time.

Reagan understood it. His decisions stimulated wealth growth. His successors screwed up the distribution part. Too many Americans did not participate in that prosperity. We have very few profusely rich who can easily exploit American opportunities. A shrinking middle class can hardly do it because Americans there are struggling from sliding to a dependency on ongoing government support.

None of that understanding one could find from the mouths of GOP presidential candidates, regardless if one watched them on Fox News or on X.

Backseat drivers in Ukraine’s war

August 23, 2023
Ukraine

Ukraine needs a miracle to win the war, claims once respected UPI. The core argument is that Russia will not act on its imperial aspirations weakened by the war. Germany was weak at the time of Munich. Not a year later, after taking over Czechia. Russia is weakened now. But it will not be after subduing Ukraine. Harlan Ullman, claiming to be an expert, cannot see farther than the end of his nose.

This article is one of many confusing opinions and contradictory predictions in the media. Ukrainians have a long tradition of being skillful warriors. They know the terrain and the circumstances. They know their resources, and most of all, they know their enemy. Can we agree they know better than the backseat drivers thousands of miles away? Just give them what they ask for. And shut up.

Russia needs to rejoin a worldwide community

August 19, 2023
Ukraine

The Wall Street Journal asked, “Should the West Fear Putin’s Fall?” The West would not fear Putin’s fall if it had a rational concept of what should be afterward.

Germany and Japan started WWII believing they could fulfill their imperial aspirations by war. Putin did the same. After WWII, Germany and Japan were incorporated into the peaceful worldwide community. I do not hear Germans or Japanese complaining.

We should offer the same to Russia and repeat it whenever Ukraine gets military help. Russians can depose Putin tomorrow and start building prosperity in Russia, as Germany and Japan have done. Or they will do it after continuing the war to the last soldier killed.

To maintain prosperity, the worldwide community cannot accept war as a way of doing business. The Russians can accept it now because it makes sense or under duress after a humiliating military defeat. There is no other option.

Why do actors strike?

July 16, 2023
Life and politics, Media

The answer seems obvious; they want a bigger cut of the money the studios make on movies. Behind that request is an assumption that one can make a decent profit in movie-making when paying creators as much as they ask. But, if this is the truth, why no one does it already? With modern technology, the entry threshold is lower than ever before. Hot cash is burning the pockets of angel investors. Why are they not jumping on the opportunity? If actors and writers are correct, the free market does not work in the movie-making industry. Why? Why does no one in the media ask that the strikers?

Many tell us what to think. I ask my readers to be skeptical. Question me and others.

About me

When I was twenty years old, in a Polish student magazine, I published a story about a political initiative that hadn’t worked out. I deeply offended some and was highly praised by a few. It was an augury of what was to come.

My political writing comes out of necessity. I write when I see that the prevailing voices in the political arena are misleading or erroneous. Abstract mathematics and control theory (of complex technological processes) strongly influenced my understanding of social phenomena. Some opponents rebuked my mathematical mind as cold, soulless, and inhuman. I was prized for my engineer’s precision and logic on a few occasions.

I was among those Polish political writers who, through their writings, contributed to the peaceful system transformation that finally took place in 1989.

Since 1985, I have lived in the Chicago area. I went through the hard times typical of many immigrants. Working in the service business, I have seen the best and the worst places; I met the poorest and the richest. I have seen and experienced an America that is unknown to most politicians, businesspeople, and political writers.

Some are intimidated by the persuasive style of my writing. Please do not be. It is my way of doing what we all try: a perpetual search for reason.