Herb Rothschild Jr.: Is it a global free-for-all?
Last week I looked at driving our cars to test the validity of the pervasive assumptions of our culture — we compete with each other for the good things in life, and there must always be winners and...
View ArticleHerb Rothschild Jr.: A frightening idea
If the mission of our military were to defend us from attack by hostile forces, it would be impossible to justify its present size, weaponry and deployment. Those are dictated primarily by the quest...
View ArticleHerb Rothschild Jr.: Loyalty oath returns
When I was a teaching assistant at Harvard, I had to sign a loyalty oath. The same was true when I took a full-time position at LSU. This trademark of the McCarthy era had been deemed constitutional by...
View ArticleHerb Rothschild Jr.: A class act
Among the numerous privileges with which I was endowed, being white and male were two. Helpful as they were, I don’t think they were determinative in smoothing my way to worldly success. After all,...
View ArticleHerb Rothschild Jr.: More on class and race
Reader unhappiness with last week’s column prompted some searching conversations. I’m pleased. When I get no pushback, I worry that, like MSNBC, I’m simply reinforcing your current opinions.My focus...
View ArticleHerb Rothschild Jr.: Reframing the issue of gun violence
Few of us support gun violence at home; huge numbers of us support it abroad. Our efforts to curtail domestic violence of all sorts will be severely hampered so long as we celebrate war and honor those...
View ArticleHerb Rothschild Jr.: One degree of Blake Farenthold
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon is a parlor game created in 1994 by three college students. Premised on the notion that any two humans are no more than six acquaintances apart, and also that Kevin Bacon...
View ArticleHerb Rothschild Jr.: Let’s talk about money
We need to talk about money. That’s the way I ended my last column. Few of the people with whom I associate talk about money. People with a great deal of money talk about money, but it makes most...
View ArticleEasing nuclear tensions
Do threats produce compliance? Often yes, but it’s always a grudging compliance that lasts only as long as resistance seems futile. Lately, women have been impressing that truth on powerful men. Some...
View ArticleHerb Rothschild Jr.: Serving two masters
Who will you serve? In political as well as personal life, answering this question is foundational to any new beginning. Democrats can win some elections without radical self-examination. Both major...
View ArticleHerb Rothschild Jr.: Withdrawing from agribusiness
For more than half my life I lived beside the Mississippi River. In my childhood we ate river shrimp, smaller but tastier than salt water varieties. No longer. The river at New Orleans is too polluted....
View ArticleHerb Rothschild Jr.: Corporate food, Part 2
People of conscience were appalled by President Trump’s proposal that the benefits disbursed by SNAP (formerly food stamps) be converted from cash cards usable at grocery stores to bags of selected...
View ArticleHerb Rothschild Jr.: Unions, women and Senate District 3
I begin with two personal disclosures pertinent to the subject matter of this column. I’ve long been a member of Communication Workers of America; I’ve continued to pay monthly dues during my...
View ArticleHerb Rothschild Jr.: Taking the symptom for the problem
Here are some data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about our opioid epidemic: Since 2000, the rate of deaths from drug overdoses has increased 137 percent, including a 200 percent...
View ArticleHerb Rothschild Jr.: Let’s say goodbye to all that
“The Great Gatsby” is the most American of our great novels. Jay Gatsby’s story illuminates our culture like no other. When Mr. Gatz turns up for his son’s funeral, he shows to Nick Carroway, the...
View ArticleKeep the voices of 'me too' ablaze for cultural change
The wake of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual allegations birthed a worldwide movement. Victims of sexual assault are speaking out. It is as if this "me too" has arisen from the deep belly of the Earth in a...
View ArticleThe woman in the blue coat (Part 1)
Certainly there isn’t a soul in Ashland who would have wanted Tasha (not her real name), a 42-year-old woman with a developmentally delayed disability, to be on our streets on her own during the recent...
View ArticleThe woman in the blue coat (Part 2)
(Continued from Part 1, Jan. 27, A4)I asked Tasha if I could give her a ride to the Starbucks inside of Safeway. It was 7:15 a.m. The Ashland Resource Center, physically located next to Safeway, opened...
View ArticleLove is calling — Will you pick up?
Love is calling. It is a pure omnipresent and omnipotent love. A love so rich, divine and pure; a love you can trust; a love that is unconditional. This love nurtures and pampers you. It accepts who...
View ArticleBeethoven: The creative genius in everyone
Among other famous winter birthdays we find Ludwig von Beethoven. Even if you don't love his music, it is undeniable that the man gave the world a great gift — soaring music in so many different genres...
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