The Counterpoint column, written by USC Price Associate Professor Peter Robertson, addresses a number of issues relevant to contemporary society by articulating a perspective that runs counter to the dominant narrative of modern culture.
The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not reflect in any way those of the USC Bedrosian Center.
by Peter Robertson The debate, such that it is, between creationists and evolutionists regarding the legitimacy of their contrasting theories of the origins of man juxtaposes two alternative worldviews that have exerted a strong influence on Western civilization. Creationists derive their beliefs from the Bible, the foundational text for the Christian Read more…
While much attention has been given to the premise that young black men are particularly susceptible to being the target of these acts of police brutality, the problem is not confined to any particular demographic group, as people of all ages, genders, and ethnicities are subjected to violent treatment at the hands of American law enforcement officers. In fact, the frequency and pervasiveness of these incidents suggest that something is very wrong with the state of the police in this country.
My purpose below is to explain why the official conspiracy theory of 9/11 should not be taken seriously, and to demonstrate that aggregated evidence points to a very different and more disturbing conclusion regarding who planned and carried out the murderous acts that initiated the “war on terror.”
by Peter Robertson “I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power Read more…
by Peter Robertson Money Power (Part 1) “Money makes the world go round.” Most people have heard this phrase at one time or another in their lives. It reflects our general consensus regarding the importance of money as a source of power required to get things done in this world. On Read more…
The shift from the modern industrial era into the new, post-modern Information Age presents contemporary society with a rather significant paradox. On one hand, there is fairly widespread agreement that the governmental apparatus established to implement public policies – the bureaucracy – is not very efficient or effective. On the other, there is equally widespread belief that bureaucracy is necessary in order to successfully implement those policies. We are stuck in something of a love/hate, “can’t live with it, can’t live without it” dilemma when it comes to the presence of the large bureaucratic systems, at all levels of government, that are critical to the actual delivery of services that constitute the ultimate operationalization of legislative dictates.
This paradox is not new, although the dilemma it presents has become more pressing as the societal transition into a new era proceeds. Significant backlash to the dysfunctional features of bureaucracy emerged as early as the 1950s, when proponents of a more humanistic approach to organizational design began articulating how bureaucratic structures and processes could be revised to take into account the higher-order needs (i.e., self-esteem and self-actualization, in Maslow’s hierarchy) of the people working in bureaucratic organizations. To a considerable extent, the slow but steady evolution of this organizational form since that time has reflected the gradual integration of some of those ideas into our collective understanding about the best ways to manage organizations. These changes have been further stimulated by the dynamics of globalization, the diffusion of information/communication technology, and the differences among succeeding generations of workers. Taken together, the reforms over the last half-century can be seen as leading to a transformation in the bureaucratic organizational form itself, as it evolves into a new form more appropriate for the demands of a new era. (more…)
by Peter Robertson “Most voters still think Congress is doing a poor job and believe most of its members only get reelected because a fix is in.” Over 80 percent of those surveyed disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job, and the majority of the respondents to a recent Read more…
by Peter Robertson What we refer to as the modern era was stimulated by the advances in thinking enabled by the great intellectuals of the Renaissance and Enlightenment periods in Europe. One of their primary achievements was the development of the scientific method through which empirical evidence is collected upon which Read more…
by Peter Robertson It was the fall of 1980, and I had just started the Ph.D. program in Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. I was meeting with Dr. Joanne Martin, the Assistant Professor who had just started serving as the director of the doctoral program. Joanne had Read more…