Articles related to : Society

An American in the Red Army? Russian war correspondents of WWII could not believe their eyes. And yet, it was true. Nicholas Burlak not only fought along with his Russian friends, he even went all the way from Stalingrad to Berlin.

We used to refer to Adam Smith as a “capitalism founder” and the inventor of “invisible hand” as a synonym of “free market.” Both references came from a myth, created by those who wanted to justify the existence and development of the unfair competition in a market “free” from any supervision of society, given to […]

Division of labor glorified and credited with many, if not all, reasons for the material prosperity of the modern society. But if we look closer, we see not so rosy picture. And the “founder of capitalism” Adam Smith knew that and warned us, but we did not listen.

The notion of the invisible hand of the free market is so appealing that we do not think twice applying it in support to many opinions. It is used almost as an excuse for anything which we cannot or do not bother to explain using other reasons.

We have used to the term “invisible hand” so much that do not question anymore its origin and meaning. Everybody seems to know what it means. It projects a sense of a sacredness, if not from a Deity, then from nature itself, at least.

Las Vegas tragedy requires our understanding of the roots and causes. Without it, we are going to remain blind to the lurking dangers.

We excuse ourselves easier than we forgive others. We often do not notice our own deficiencies and mistakes and are surprised that other people take offense and resent us or misunderstand us at least. We excuse ourselves by taking into account our intentions and judge others by the results of their (in)actions.

Search algorithms were introduced to help users to find the most relevant information. And they did a good job and continue to do it now…. if the information you seek is not in the realm of the interests of big players.

The business-style leadership becomes cynical if pushed too far. Not everything is just a business. Integrity and trust matter. Without them, the society falls apart. Those cold-headed-and-calculating cynics are free riders on the back of the honest majority. But they will go under as everybody else as soon as the invisible soft social infrastructure cracks.

Progress continues, although it is so easy to lose the perspective in the information noise and the multitudes of opinions. Especially striking is the difference between the presentation in the media and the actual process of decision making inside the government behind the closed doors.