Beyond Labels

A 360° Discussion of Foreign, National and Local Policy Issues

No Beyond Labels on Monday, Jan 15

The Blue Hill Public Library will be closed this coming Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day, so we won’t be meeting.

The next meeting will be on Jan 22, to discuss “new Federalism”–in a world that has difficulty coming to grips with the Trump Administration’s actions, some have argued that states (such as California and New York) can take the lead both domestically and globally in taking the high road vis-a-vis climate change, global “citizenship,” education, health care, etc. when the Federal government (a la Trump) isn’t being as aggressive (or progressive) as they’d like.

So we’ll revisit the question of what functions/activities should be driven by a uniform Federal mandate/control and which can be more local?

See you on Jan 22!

1 Comment

  • Happen to be reading The Cholera Years by Charles E. Rosenberg. The book covers a period of US history from
    1832 till 1872 following the Cholera epidemics in the US,
    paralleling the changes in cultural attitudes and morality.
    In 1832 the causes of Cholera were linked to moral failure.
    However the medical community had discovered statistics.
    So began a change from moral perspectives on disease and
    a move to logical, scientific perspective. As US Culture changes the governing forces take responsibility for enacting
    on the new understanding of disease and form governing bodies to enforce new medical standards of health and so the Board of Health and Sanitation was born.
    The board had tremendous powers to acquire money and implement quarantine, remove of filth in the cities that adopted the new methods.
    The knowledge from this book points to many issues as to who should be leading the needed processes of survival.

    As you see I am conditioned to think ‘Beyond Labels’ on Mondays.


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