Author Archives: gdkrenz

A Bloomsday Thought

Posted on June 16, 2026 by gdkrenz

Happy Bloomsday! If you are among the uninitiated, that means that today, June 16, is the day on which James Joyce’s Ulysses is set in 1904, the day in which the book’s protagonists — Leopold Bloom, Stephen Dedalus, and Molly Bloom — … Continue reading →

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The Shell Game About Social Security “Insolvency”

Posted on June 14, 2026 by gdkrenz

Robert Reich on his Substack has an excellent, brief piece on Social Security, which as usual is again under assault by Republicans, who are arguing that to make the program solvent, benefits must be cut and the age of eligibility … Continue reading →

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Misunderstanding Postmodernity (Gary Krenz)

Posted on June 8, 2026 by gdkrenz

I hope that readers will allow a little leeway for me to vent about a pet peeve: pundits and sometimes even supposed scholars pointing the finger at “postmodernism” as an explanation of our woes: loss of respect in institutions; loss … Continue reading →

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SCOTUS’s Rejection of “Democratic Energy”

Posted on May 18, 2026 by gdkrenz

Jamelle Bouie is one of the most incisive and profound commentators on the sociopolitics of America, bringing historical understanding, philosophical perspicacity, and clear vision to bear on any number of topics. His newsletter from a couple of days ago on … Continue reading →

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Inequality and the National Debt (Gary Krenz)

Posted on May 13, 2026 by gdkrenz

On his Substack, Robert Reich provides this brief but important commentary on the national debt: “Psst: What No One Will Tell You About the National Debt (But I Will).” Reich notes that the national debt has now crossed the “once-unthinkable … Continue reading →

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The Right’s Demonization of Democracy (Gary Krenz)

Posted on May 10, 2026 by gdkrenz

An ongoing canard on the Right and among MAGA types is that the United States is “not a democracy but a republic.” This piece by Barbara Clark Smith of the Smithsonian Institution is a fine, concise historical review of the relationship of … Continue reading →

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Democracy and the Progressive (Gary Krenz)

Posted on May 5, 2026 by gdkrenz

Following up on Dan’s important post about The Sorrow and the Pity, I’d like to draw attention to this piece by Seva Gunitsky at Persuasion: “The Incels are Taking Over.” Gunitsky, the George Ignatieff Chair of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto, reviews the … Continue reading →

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Time to “Orban” Trump (Gary Krenz)

Posted on April 14, 2026 by gdkrenz

There has been much good commentary on Magyar’s decisive victory over Orban in Hungary. It will take some time to sort out various lessons, but as Anne Applebaum suggests in this piece, “Illiberalism is not Inevitable,” in The Atlantic, perhaps … Continue reading →

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Let’s change how we talk about taxes (Gary Krenz)

Posted on April 10, 2026 by gdkrenz

The Nation has an excellent article by Zephyr Teachout on US energy prices and policy and the need for reform. My immediate reason for posting about it, however, is not energy, it’s about the framing that the article utilizes for … Continue reading →

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My dream of Democratic strength (Gary Krenz)

Posted on April 9, 2026 by gdkrenz

Over the past five days, Donald Trump has engaged in an increasingly unhinged and evil rant on social media: Meanwhile, he continues to sow chaos with lies, innuendos, shifting positions, and on and on. Unsurprising in this is the failure … Continue reading →

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