Press "Enter" to skip to content

Public Citizen

Larry Barnett: Our Democracy’s Dilemma

The role of government in a democracy has always been a matter of contention. Should government’s primary effort be the protection of individual liberty or the protection of the common good? Proponents of the former believe the protection of individual liberty includes defending private property... Continue

Larry Barnett: Men, Money, Sex and Power

The media is on fire about the Epstein files, and rightfully so. The files reveal the way an entire class of men – wealthy, celebrated, entitled – routinely connected with each other to share contacts, socialize and enjoy themselves, often at the expense of others.... Continue

Larry Barnett: What We Must Sometimes Do for Love 

The force of love is among the most powerful of human experiences. I’m specifically considering love between people, not love of country, ice cream, or the many other things we say or even feel we love. I’m talking about romantic love, in all its manifestations. ... Continue

Larry Barnett: The Doom Scenario

“We’re doomed,” said my therapist. It was a notable moment that has stayed with me over all these years. He was a Jungian – not a school of psychotherapy known for being pessimistic – and he made this announcement while we were discussing humanity. I’ve... Continue

Larry Barnett: You May Call It Heaven

We imagine ourselves as having had a beginning, although at precisely what point in time it happened is uncertain, and that like taxes our end will come. We think of most things this way because that’s the way they appear and it’s what we’re taught.... Continue

Larry Barnett: The Universe Abides

No matter how much order nor how many distinctions we make about the universe, in essence, it’s just a soup of subatomic waves and particles. Whether this represents some sort of primordial order or billions of years of entropy and chaos, is incidental. As human... Continue

Larry Barnett: Our American Crisis

There is a point of view that argues America’s crisis is inevitable, that authoritarian barbarity is baked into our system and it’s what we have regularly and violently inflicted upon targeted domestic and international populations. It’s not an easy argument to refute. Our brutal exercise... Continue

Larry Barnett: Old Love

We only have one word for love, yet love is vastly more than one feeling or experience, so we modify it to better express its nuances. Thus it is we say, “first love” and “young love” when we speak about love in adolescence, implying its... Continue

Larry Barnett: Lost in Imaginary Space

The story of America we were told in school painted a pretty picture. Unfortunately, it was not truthful, as current events make abundantly clear. There were always contradictions within the story of America: Equality under the law accompanied by its opposite; the message of welcome... Continue

Larry Barnett: The Loom of Spacetime

There’s a reason that weaving was among humankind’s first technologies. Spacetime is constantly weaving The Eternal Now, the only time there really is. The fabric of events we tie together into a coherent narrative are the yarns we spin, and like the Ancient Greek mythology... Continue