Culture – Page 4 – Monica Perez Show

Human Nature & The Wiki Concept

July 25, 2014 by Monica

I stumbled upon this video while trying to look up something depressing on Wikipedia (specifically, what Wikipedia says about MH17). I absent-mindedly typed in “wiki” in the search box and this is what came up… I watched it because the idea of wiki-style shared information appeals to me (see below) and I’m sharing it because … Read more

Human Nature & The Wiki Concept

July 25, 2014 by Monica

What Would Make YOU Leave AMERICA? Podcast of July 12, 2014 Show

July 14, 2014 by Monica

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3 A few of the references from the show: Complexity & Chaos, Empires on the Edge of Chaos, by Niall Ferguson Neo-conservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, a review of Irving Kristol’s book.

What's at the bottom of the rabbit hole? The Report from Iron Mountain. Podcast of June 7, 2014 Show

June 10, 2014 by Monica

Hour 1

Hour 2

Hour 3

This is a must read, full stop: The Report from Iron Mountain. (See also, “another update” below.)

What’s at the bottom of the rabbit hole? The Report from Iron Mountain. Podcast of June 7, 2014 Show

June 10, 2014 by Monica

Hour 1

Hour 2

Hour 3

This is a must read, full stop: The Report from Iron Mountain. (See also, “another update” below.)

Bewitched or Mad Men?

May 16, 2014 by Monica

I am obsessed with Bewitched. It was my favorite show as a kid because of the magic but it’s my favorite show now because of the nostalgia – not nostalgia for my childhood memories, but for an era I have no memory of…the Sixties that existed in the pregnant pause before the cultural revolution–that long tail of the post-war Baby Boom that would fuel the counter-culture that changed it all.

But the show is also amusing on its face and even my modern kids enjoy it. I don’t let them watch TV or use electronics on school nights mostly because they fight too much over who gets what for how long. A month or so ago, however, I made an exception and bought the first season of Bewitched. Now we watch one episode per night as a family. We all love it. But when we first started watching it, I grieved for American innocence lost–a culture of etiquette and gentility that perhaps skewed corny but was fundamentally good. Then the outdated terms of the husband-wife relationship broke through to my consciousness and it occurred to me that really this might just be a white-washed version of the ugly culture depicted in Mad Men. Darrin Stevens and Larry Tate were the original mad men and the cigarettes and martinis and gender roles ring true in both versions. I was a little disturbed by this possibility, but also a little relieved because I didn’t have to have Good Ol’ Days syndrome – maybe those days weren’t so good after all.

To check my instincts on this, I took advantage of an opportunity to get an unbiased impression of that era as I was driving in the car with my 8-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter. My 9-year-old had announced at dinner the night before that she “accidentally” stumbled across the word “sexist” in the dictionary while looking up some “other word.” It didn’t take me long to come up with a list of “other words” she might have been looking for on that page, but I let that pass. I did, however, use that information later in the car to ask, “Hey, since you know what the word ‘sexist’ means, let me ask your opinion on something. Do you think the show Bewitched is sexist?” I was so amazed by their answers, I decided to share them….

Net Neutrality & the True Nature of the Internet: Podcast of May 3 Show

May 7, 2014 by Monica

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3 If you have trouble listening to these audio files, try iTunes or wsbradio.com Wanna know more? Check this out…

Net Neutrality & the True Nature of the Internet: Podcast of May 3 Show

May 7, 2014 by Monica

Hour 1 Hour 2 Hour 3 If you have trouble listening to these audio files, try iTunes or wsbradio.com Wanna know more? Check this out…

The Rise of "The Dissipant"

April 14, 2014 by Monica

As a libertarian, I don’t advocate for social legislation and I think doing so undermines limited government. That doesn’t mean I don’t actually have social values. The beauty of liberty, however, is that it creates social good without social legislation. Liberty comes with responsibility. In a free society, liberty and responsibility go hand in hand because there are no moral hazards created by illusory safety nets or the artificial disconnection between actions and natural consequences. In a free system, experiencing the consequences of one’s actions gives rise to a stable, just and productive society with human relationships and mutually beneficial bonds at its heart.
I think it is reasonable to claim that the history of the United States through the mid-20th century demonstrates this principle. I don’t think the culture here was perfect then – I certainly would have been miserable with the economic and social limitations my mother experienced – but I would say in net we have traded a strong and virtuous culture for a less rigid but also less valuable one. Specifically, we seem to be losing the legacy of our industrious past and are losing sight of the connection between behavior and outcome.

The Rise of “The Dissipant”

April 14, 2014 by Monica

I think it is reasonable to claim that the history of the United States through the mid-20th century demonstrates this principle. I don’t think the culture here was perfect then – I certainly would have been miserable with the economic and social limitations my mother experienced – but I would say in net we have traded a strong and virtuous culture for a less rigid but also less valuable one. Specifically, we seem to be losing the legacy of our industrious past and are losing sight of the connection between behavior and outcome.