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Public Citizen

Larry Barnett: Meditations on Life and Death

Some things about death are final, most significantly that once gone a loved one will never be seen again. This departure can feel quite unreal, and I keep half expecting my late wife to pop in the front door and once again say “Hi Honey.... Continue

Larry Barnett: The Debit Card Refund Scam

When my late wife and I moved across town, I cancelled our AT&T internet and DirectTV accounts. A month and a half later, a letter from AT&T arrived telling me we were entitled to a refund, and a debit card was included. The amount of... Continue

Larry Barnett: On Giving Up

Giving up is something all animals do. Our pursuit of a particular outcome is always weighed against the required energy and exertion; when the output exceeds the potential benefit, animals give up and move on. Thus a woodpecker will doggedly ram its beak into a... Continue

Larry Barnett: To Be Held and To Hold

I grew up in an affectionate household. Both my mother and my father hugged and kissed me right up to the days of their deaths. As a little boy, I would sit on my father’s lap while we watched TV, and when we took walks... Continue

Larry Barnett: Privatizing Currency

Crypto this, crypto that. It seems like a new cryptocurrency is introduced every week. But what, exactly, is the cryptocurrency mania about? Essentially, it’s the privatization of currency, yet another fragmenting of society facilitated by digital technology. The underlying basis of all currencies is faith... Continue

Larry Barnett: Life and Death in the Garden

Norma, my dear departed wife of fifty years and I owned and lived in four homes. We bought our first home in 1984, a dilapidated house near the southern border of Piedmont, CA, just a block from Oakland’s Grand Avenue. We lived there for five... Continue

Larry Barnett: Democracy’s Dilemma

Democracy’s an idea that’s been kicking around for thousands of years, an attempt to bring a particular form of order to a chaotic world. Criticism of democracy goes all the way back to Plato’s Republic in Ancient Greece of 380 B.C., his thoughts on how... Continue

Larry Barnett: Risk, Threat and Extortion

Being alive is a risky business; we live in a predatory world, a living system where life feeds on life. As such, risk and the threat of injury and/or death is always present. This is true for the smallest and the largest of living things.... Continue

Larry Barnett: The Psychology of Politics

The analysis, commentary, and complaints about American politics are prolific. Certain themes are repeatedly explored, such as voters’ educational levels, identity, and economic status, but all these are basically subordinate to the one factor nobody really talks about: the psychology of politics. Psychology, an exploration... Continue