Mountain climbing is serious business because mountains are treacherous.  If you are not careful, very bad things can happen.  Before starting a treacherous endeavor, people often use base-camps to prepare.  It's a place of minimum distraction where you can think long and hard about what you'll be facing.  It's a place for thinking of basic needs, what's likely and not likely to happen and what you'll do in either case.  It's for thinking about consequences that affect you and others.

The political arena is treacherous and you cannot avoid it for long.  Here is a quote worth remembering.  It's been true for a long time.

“Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.”

Pericles, Greek statesman (circa 495–429 BC)

Between 1750–1850, Western nations started deciding how to replace kings and queens as rulers. Two ideas emerged and are still struggling for dominance, democratic republics versus socialist/communist/collectivist states.  America is an example of the former; various European nations have been and are examples of the latter. In republics, citizens elect citizen-politicians to rule. In effect, the people govern themselves, but are protected from becoming a mob by certain structural and process features. The people are also protected from concentrations of power, which can be used for oppression. Under the collectivist model, elites rule. Sometimes elites are elected; sometimes they rise through special-interest groups.

The American Dream is now on trial.  WE THE PEOPLE are the jury. The trouble is, most jurors don’t know what the American Dream is or the nature of the European ideas in opposition. The biggest problem is the jurors don’t know who or what to trust.  Smooth talkers can make any idea or candidate sound good or sound bad. So what do we do?  What can we trust? 

We can trust Nature; she never lies.  Nature teaches, but does not preach.  We must figure things out.  That's where science comes in.  We can trust the methods of science to learn the laws of Nature including human nature.  We won't need heavy-duty science with equations and abstract theories. We'll use common-place observations and reasoning. Science is disciplined common-sense. We all have common-sense, and we all can learn discipline.  But it will take time and patience.  That's what base-camps are for.

This web site is for students of all ages, but is especially for high school and college students.  It gives an easy-to-understand easy-to-use introduction to important topics not covered well in many schools and colleges.  It should save you time and may be entertaining.  If either is true for you, please refer a friend.