Commentary & Opinion

If last week was all about politics - and thankfully things turned out pretty well - maybe thisweek we can put ideology and partisanship aside for a moment and apply a more objective,scientific approach to some of the tough issues we face. What do historical records and datasuggest might be the better course for our nation to follow?

Most pundits have been describing last week's elections as a victory for the status quo, with President Obama being reelected and Democrats retaining control of the Senate despite the timid economic recovery and despite SuperPACs spending nearly a billion dollars on largely negative campaign ads. From a health and science policy perspective, however, nothing could be further from the truth.

In Jacques Barzun’s masterwork on cultural history he describes modernity as decadent.  Pitirim Sorokin’s narrative of contemporary society includes sensate culture, a belief that the senses are superordinated over ideas and beliefs.

On election night, we spent part of the evening with friends who, like us, had served in the U.S. Peace Corps. The group had invited Diane Reiner to speak about her experience in Uganda. She brought Ronald Sseruyange (pronounced Sse as in send, ru as in rue the day, yang as in fang, and ending with the ge pronounced gay) from Kampala. Diane described going to Kampala originally on a photographic expedition. While there, she wanted to see the conditions of the poor and was introduced to Ronnie. Ronnie had lived in the street for ten years beginning when his mother died when he was six.