Archive for the ‘Outside the Fishbowl’ Category

Facing the Future

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

  I compiled my thoughts on the primary challenges the United States faces in the coming decade, and ways to overcome them, here: http://www.hackneys.com/docs/facingthefuture.pdf The primary focus in this collection is on domestic challenges, although some geopolitical issues are addressed. .

Intro to Geopolitics – Public Opinion

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

  Following is a good overview of a current geopolitical situation from Stratfor, a public domain intelligence analysis firm. If you are interested in the particular issue and region at hand, Israel / Palestinians / rising Turkey / etc., you will probably find it of value. However, its true worth lies in some pearls of geopolitical wisdom, some ...

Elia Kazan’s America

Monday, May 31st, 2010

  As part of our effort to reintegrate into American society and its culture, we’re spending part of our summer in the air conditioned retreat of the Paramount, a faithfully restored theater originally built in 1915 to host vaudeville as the Majestic and transformed in 1930 into a Baroque Revival movie ...

4th Floor Walkup

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Yesterday, an entrepreneur told me of his father, who died at 81. The father lived in a 4th floor walkup until he was 79, when a fire in the building forced a move to a new building. The new building came with a wonderful view of the East River and an ...

Circles in Circles

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Much of the story of humans and groups of humans, as well as the challenges that face America, can be told with circles. The core of the story is an individual.   The first unit of human organization is the family.    The next unit of human organization is tribe.  

What We Can Afford

Monday, March 29th, 2010

During America’s brief tenure atop the world’s pecking order between the end of WWII and the beginning of the current era, the country enjoyed an unprecedented run of prosperity and abundance. The country was so successful while producing copious wealth and endless opportunity, it could afford to take on costs ...

Ranking America

Monday, March 8th, 2010

The United States of America enjoys many riches, inherent capabilities and positive attributes, as well as shortcomings, unresolved issues and a converging set of existential threats. The challenge is to be aware of the upsides of the United States without becoming defiantly hostile to any discussion of specific shortcomings or ways ...

A Perfect Storm

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

  “…our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.  Now we are … testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” – Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address ******* The United States ...

My World View

Monday, December 21st, 2009

This essay is available in PDF form here: http://www.hackneys.com/docs/myworldview.pdf   “Your world view is, well, wrong.” Those were the last words I ever heard from a guy I’d been friends with for more than 30 years. That was back in late 2004. At the time, I was sitting in Beijing, China, and had recently ...

Outside the Fishbowl – 2009/10/06

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

When you're inside the United States, it is nearly impossible to realize how insular it is, especially related to information and perspective. Since we're going to be here for a while, I'm providing a semi-regular injection of outside perspectives and information gleaned from other cultures, counties and regions in an effort ...