from the desk of H. Bowie...

Observations and analysis of our modern culture. And when I say “our” I’m mostly talking about the US, although many of my comments might well be applicable more generally, or at least to some countries other than the US.

1. The Clown Coup
2. Diving Back Into Our American Muddle
3. Our American Class System
4. The Progressive Problem

I’ve written a number of pieces related to cultural evolution. These are listed below in a logical sequence for readers, with later pieces building on earlier ones.

1. Human Culture and its Evolution
2. A Broadcast Consciousness
3. The Systemic Era
4. Understanding Human History

I’ve written a few pieces about films that have been particularly meaningful to me.

1. Apollo 11 – 2019 film
2. Citizen Kane vs. Citizen Bailey
3. Getting Back to The Feeling

1. The Nature of God
2. Reflections on the Christian Message
3. Rejiggering Our Religion
4. Religion, Storytelling and Art
5. Religious Freedom
6. What Christmas Means to Me

These are writings about what it means to be human.

These are presented in somewhat of a logical sequence, with more foundational pieces appearing before others.

1. What Does It Mean to be Human?
2. The Four Quadrants of Human Knowledge
3. Developmental Levels
4. DRAMMA List of Psychological needs
5. Art and the Eye of the Beholder
6. A Guide To Becoming
7. Life is Complicated
8. Managing Our Identity Stacks
9. Motivational Factors for Complex Work
10. My Advice to Young People of All Ages
11. My Prayer for a More Integral New Year
12. Reasons for Belief
13. A Resumption of our Humanity
14. Self-Determination Theory
15. Social Distancing and our Essential Nature
16. Social Support Survey
17. Some Hard-Won Wisdom Concerning Cults
18. Why Michigan’s 42–27 Victory over Ohio State Gives Me Hope for Humanity

This section includes writings pertinent to organizational leadership.

1. The Four Essential Attributes of any Organization
2. Leadership and Followership: 21 Key Observations
3. Of Idiots and Autocrats
4. Patterns of Human Cooperation
5. Schembechler, Bacon and Leadership
6. A Universal Improvement Process
7. Why Mandating 'X‘ Days a Week in the Office is a Stupid Idea

Some few writings about literature.

1. Building a Case for the Detective Story

Some of my writings have been inspired by specific events and, while there is still good content here, the events that inspiried these writings are now in the past.

1. 8 Big Lessons We Can Learn from the Pandemic
2. Five Takeaways from the First 2024 Presidential Debate
3. The Issues Swirling around Spotify and its Content Providers
4. Lessons to be Learned from the Fall of Afghanistan
5. Practopia
6. Why I Call Myself a Practopian
7. Democracy
8. Evolution and Its Implications
9. Humanism and the Practical Utopian
10. Imperfection
11. The Importance of Mission
12. In Defense of Balance
13. An Integral Approach
14. More Love
15. A Practopian Approach to Gun Issues in the US
16. The Value of Individuals
17. Science

How can human societies best organize ourselves? This is one of the most interesting and pressing issues facing modern humans, as the necessary scale of our societies grows ever larger.

1. Can the US Become a Truly Egalitarian Society?
2. Cooperation, Competition and Coercion
3. Core Design Principles for The Efficacy of Groups
4. The Devastating Tragedy of our Vanishing Middle Class
5. Developmental Levels as Evolving Social Structures
6. Kindness by Design
7. Our Societal Disconnect
8. Rebuilding Trust in Our Large Institutions
9. Reframing our Debates about Capitalism
10. The Rotary Four-Way Test
11. The Social Suite
12. The System is Working Very Well, Thank You
13. Talking Openly about Hierarchy
14. Thinking about Abortion(s)
15. Thinking Differently About Our Economy
16. The Truth About Capitalism
17. Ukrainian Lives Matter
18. Undoing Trumpism
19. Violence at the 94th Academy Awards
20. We Are Multi-Tribal
21. What To Do About Big Business?
22. Why Do We Call It Capitalism?
23. The Widening Spiral of Modern Society

These are writings about songs that I’ve found affecting and interesting. These are all additionally published at the Lexicon of Song site. See the List of Songs for a table that can be sorted by year written, and or by the names of the songwriters.

1. How to Listen to Music
2. All Along The Watchtower
3. And When I Die
4. Angel from Montgomery
5. Box of Rain
6. Come On In My Kitchen
7. Come On Up to the House
8. Education – Song by The Kinks
9. For What It's Worth
10. Fruitcakes
11. Girl From The North Country
12. Hallelujah
13. I Don't Like Half The Folks I Love
14. If I Had a Boat
15. It's About Time
16. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
17. The Last Trip to Tulsa
18. Late For The Sky
19. Like A Rolling Stone
20. Pancho and Lefty
21. Paul Thorn and his 800 Pound Jesus
22. Quiet About It
23. Rain
24. Ring Them Bells
25. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
26. School Day
27. Settin‘ the Woods on Fire
28. Shady Grove
29. Step by Step
30. Stringing Me Along
31. Sympathy For The Devil
32. They All Laughed
33. Train to Birmingham
34. Turn the Page
35. The Village Green Preservation Society
36. The Weight
37. Whenever Kindness Fails
38. When I Paint My Masterpiece
39. White Room
40. Will the Circle be Unbroken

The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of year, and I’ve acquired a huge collection of holiday music over the years, so I thought I would share my thoughts about a few of my favorites with all of you. So here are 20 of my favorite holiday tracks. I’ve tried to select as wide a variety of songs as possible, mixing different artists and styles.

And all of these songs but one can be heard on Apple Music in the Christmas Favorites from The Practical Utopian playlist.

Enjoy!

1. Auld Lang Syne
2. Boogie Woogie Santa Claus
3. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
4. Christmas Bells
5. Christmas Must Be Tonight
6. Christmas Night in Harlem
7. The Christmas Song
8. Christmas Song by Dave Matthews
9. Christmas Time Back Home – Song by The Country Gentlemen
10. Christmas Time's A-Coming
11. Father Christmas – Song by The Kinks
12. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
13. Holiday in Harlem
14. The Little Drummer Boy
15. Long Black Veil
16. Merry Christmas Baby – Song
17. My Favorite Things
18. Please Come Home for Christmas
19. The Rebel Jesus – Song by Jackson Browne
20. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
21. Star of Wonder

How do we find our way to a sustainable human presence on planet Earth? Nothing could be more important to our species.

1. Calling for a US Sustainability Initiative
2. The Era of Environmental Accommodation is Over
3. Our Three Human Approaches to Dealing with Problems
4. The Personal vs. The Institutional
5. Some Hard Truths About Human Population Growth
6. Why Inflation Will be Hard to Contain

1. Dethroning the False God of User Experience Design
2. Earned Value Management (EVM) for Mere Mortals
3. Free Speech at the Crossroads
4. Have We Passed The Point of Maximum Useful Tech?
5. Help! Help! The Robots are Coming!
6. How to Fix Big Tech
7. Keeping to the Cackle with AI
8. Popping the Hood with the Notenik App
9. Thank God for Elon Musk!
10. A Traditional Remedy for the Facebook Problem: Competition
11. Why I Use Markdown (And Why You Should Too)
12. The Written Word in the 21st Century

These are writings about our political system in the United States.

1. Are Political Parties Doing Us More Harm Than Good?
2. The Big Truth
3. The Challenge for Democrats: Playing the Long Game
4. The Dangers of Political Nostalgia
5. The Decline of the Republican Party – First Gradually and then Suddenly
6. Does the US Need a New, More Centrist, Political Party?
7. Have Our Political Parties Turned Into Cults?
8. The Importance of Progressive Activism
9. Is There Any Middle Left?
10. The MAGA Bubble Finally Bursts
11. The Progressive Path Forward – A 12-State Strategy
12. The Shocking Truth About Us Liberals
13. Welcome To The Autonomous States of America
14. What Trump Gets Right
15. Where, Exactly, Are the Republicans Headed?
16. Why It's a Bad Time to be a Conservative