All posts by James G. Blaine

James G. Blaine

About James G. Blaine

Most of us undervalue what seem our tiny contributions to our communities and the world. As a result, we feel powerless, even victimized. But, like the butterfly effect in science, the lives we lead with our families, in our communities, and at work – all the so-called little things we do – collectively change the world. As I grow older, my ambition grows more modest but not less important: to participate fully and to contribute what I can. That’s my goal with this blog.

“Please, Sir, I want some more.”

“I know how much is enough,” a friend of mine once said to me. “It’s just a little more than you have right now.” And that, in two short simple sentences, is what drives the American Dream. Or at least it did until recently, when many dreamers woke up to find that a few people […]

Revisiting and revising the American dream

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country,” John F. Kennedy, January 20, 1961. It has become increasingly clear that many Americans no longer buy into the American dream. From the perspective of national unity and morale, this is not […]

Eat, Drink and Be Merry. Just Don’t Get Sick

Yesterday 24/7 Wall Street published a piece on the “Most (and Least) Healthy Countries in the World.”The rankings are based on an index that measures four variables: “life expectancy, infant mortality, maternal mortality, and incidence of tuberculosis.” The ten healthiest countries include the usual suspects from Scandinavia (Iceland #1; Finland #2; Sweden #7; and Norway #8), […]

The Strangers’ Gate: An Anti-Wall Concept

Up near the northwest corner of New York’s Central Park, across from the intersection of 106th Street and Central Park West, stands The Strangers’ Gate, one of 20 named entrances to the park, which was designed in 1858 by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. If you pass through the gate and climb the 77 […]

In a Divided Nation, Seeking Common Ground

I don’t use social media, but I’m on a lot of email lists, including the “Trump Make America Great Again Committee,” as well as various Democratic lists that span that party’s often-fractious ideological spectrum. It’s like reading missives from warring universes, factions that are wholly uninterested in understanding different points of view, intent solely on […]

“Purple mountain majesties”

“The land was ours before we were the land’s,” Robert Frost, The Gift Outright The hard and resolute granite peaks of the Teton Range that rise dramatically above Wyoming’s Jackson Valley are not as unchanging as they appear. In fact, the mountains are still growing – although at the rate of about a millimeter a […]

Why are we giving fat cats a free lunch?

“One man’s meat is another man’s poison.” Lucretius Some call bureaucratic regulations “job killers” that stifle economic growth Others call them protections that safeguard human health and the environment. Whatever they are, they are an endangered species, as the Trump administration rolls back Obama-era regulations at a record-breaking pace. Because these decisions are made unilaterally […]