Robert de Neufville
Contributor, Big Think
I lecture and write about politics and philosophy. I hold degrees in politics from Harvard and Berkeley, and have studied complex systems at the Santa Fe Institute. Other interests include theoretical physics, cognitive science, evolutionary biology, and the game of Go. You can find me on Twitter at @rdeneufville.
Happy holidays! Every year as I range across the web in search of news and ideas I come across a few articles that stand out as exceptionally worth reading. Today […]
When 71 senators to voted to ratify New START it was a huge victory for Obama and the Democrats. The vote would normally have been a victory for Republicans. The […]
Congress finallyrepealed the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy today. After 17 years, gay and lesbian troops will be allowed to serve their country without having to lie about who […]
With the Senate voting 81-19 on an $858 billion deal to extend all the Bush tax cuts—as well as extend unemployment benefits and reduce the payroll tax—it’s hard to take […]
Terrorism is not so much a military strategy as a public relations strategy. The aim of terrorists is not to defeat their enemies militarily, but to provoke some kind of […]
There has been outrage from both sides of the aisle at the deal that Obama has worked out with the Republican leadership to extend the Bush tax cuts. Some Republicans […]
We have to stop kidding ourselves, Paul Krugman says. No one in Congress really cares about the deficit. Krugman’s right. As much as our politicians claim to care about the […]
In the wake of Wikileaks release of leaked diplomatic cables, the White House has directed federal employees not to access the Wikileaks web site with out authorization. That includes people […]
Yesterday I tried to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the fight in Congress over extending the Bush tax cuts. But in the process of trying to explain how […]
Tax cuts are in the eye of the beholder. The House voted today 234 to 188 to extend the Bush tax cuts for people earning less than $250,000 a year. […]
Bipartisan cooperation isn’t something you see very often these days. But the Senate just passed The Food Safety Modernization Act by a vote of 73 to 25. 14 Republicans joined Democrats […]
Why are Republicans trying to block ratification of the new START? The original START—short for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty—was proposed by President Reagan to limit the number of strategic nuclear […]
A wedge issue is an issue which can be used to turn the different parts of a political coalition against one another. For the democrats, deficit reduction could turn out […]
If search traffic were votes, Sarah Palin would be the runaway Republican presidential nominee. Palin, as Nate Silver reports, is the subject of far more Google searches than any other […]
The Air Force doesn’t want service members logging into Foursquare or Facebook Places. Earlier this month it circulated a message saying that the use of geolocation services—which keep track where […]
In an recent Big Think essay, fellow blogger David Berreby argued that the U.S. deficit is largely a product of our increasingly high expectations about the quality of our health […]
If we want to keep our strong military and provide health care for the elderly, we’re going to have to make sacrifices. It’s the responsible, patriotic thing to do.
What do you call it when corporations get together with politicians to work out the details of legislation? Normally, of course, it’s called “lobbying” and is subject to federal regulations […]
The Washington Monthly’s Steve Benen pointed out a striking contrast Monday between what the Senate Republican leadership and the Senate Democratic leadership say their priorities are. Here’s Senate Minority Leader […]
Congress is unlikely to pass any serious climate change legislation now that the Republicans have retaken the House. If you doubt that, consider the leading candidates to replace Rep. Henry […]
For politicians, the election cycle never ends. Now that the 2010 midterms are over—or almost—it’s time to start thinking about 2012. Two years from now the real prize, the presidency, […]
Talking Points Memo flags a headline today that captures some of what’s wrong with American politics. The headline, from George Stephanopoulos’ blog on ABC, reads, “Sen. Conrad: Extend All Tax […]
In the wake of losing at least 60 seats in the House—their largest defeat in 70 years—there have been widespread calls for currrent Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) […]
Americans want change. The Republican victors in Tuesday’s election can certainly say they have a mandate to do what they said they would do. But it’s not at all clear […]
If we are truly worried about mitigating the social effects of drug use, we are likely to have more success regulating it than prohibiting it entirely.
The Tea Party—with its flamboyant supporters and over-the-top rhetoric—makes good copy. It make such good copy that it sometimes gets more attention than its actual influence warrants. But give credit […]
The Republicans scored a huge victory in yesterday’s elections. Right now it looks like they will pick up around 65 seats in the House and 6 seats in the Senate. […]
Greenwashing is like whitewashing. Whitewashing means covering up any black marks on something’s record to make it seem better than it really is. By the same token, greenwashing means making […]
Good news if you happen to be a corporation: corporate profits went up 62% from the beginning of 2009 to the middle of 2010. That’s a larger increase than over […]
“I do not support the idea of repealing Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell before our military members and commanders complete their review.” That’s what Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said to explain […]