It’s anything but a video game.

1971. New York City Police Officer Frank Serpico was nearly killed when a dealer shot him in the face during an undercover drug bust at a Williamsburg apartment building.  His colleagues in blue left him for dead, as vengeance for trying to fight the corruption of other NYPD officers on the take that allowed many of New York’s most violent criminals–particularly the hardened drug lords and organized crime syndicates that wrought the destruction of tens of thousands of lives in New York City–to continue business as usual for too long. Read more »

In a conversation with a colleague about civic participation, he, like many others including me at times, lamented the public’s lack of engagement in the political process and how that hurts the integrity and effectiveness of our system of government.  I think we all feel that way at times, thinking to ourselves if only more people voted, if only they read more blogs or newspapers, if only we could take the money and the political bosses out of the process, etc.

Don’t get me wrong, we would be better off if all of those ideals could, in fact, be achieved.   However, this perspective too often leaves us to make some serious mistakes, however well-intentioned, as members of a democratic republic since we overlook how direct self-interest plays a role in everything we do in a society, and how understanding this is the key to effective reform. Read more »