Cognitive Dissonance

We will continue to go through the budget, line by line, page by page, to eliminate programs that we can’t afford and don’t work.

—President Barack Obama, January 27, 2010

The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities…play a vital role in preserving and enhancing America’s cultural legacy.

—President Barack Obama, February 26, 2010
after requesting increased funding for both agencies

With that out of the way, let me proceed to our traditional weekend roundup. I was extremely pleased this week to have our first guest post from the distinguished philosopher Jamie Whyte. I’ve been a great admirer of Jamie’s writings since I discovered them a few months ago, and I thought his contribution here—on a radical proposal to improve democracy—was fabulous.

We had two other lively discussions this week, one on why Olympians are like Ponzi schemers (with a followup post a few days later) and one on the fiscal stimulus package on the occasion of its one-year anniversary.

Come back Monday for more!

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2 Responses to “Cognitive Dissonance”


  1. 1 1 David

    Clearly we can afford everything–until we can’t.

  2. 2 2 Jeffrey

    Continually talking about going through the budget line-by-line is like trying to lose weight by going to the bathroom more often. At some point, there’s just not any more that can come out, and a more substantial behavioral change is needed.

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