The “three pillars” of sustainability are the environment, the economy, and society. Each pillar has to work in tandem with the other two. Sustainability requires a healthy environment, a robust economy, and a wholesome society. Implicit in this conception is the idea of limits. A polluted environment is not healthy; an economy lacking a middle class is not robust; a polarized society is not wholesome.

The discussion explored the tensions comparing the private equity, for-profit, and non-profit Business models of providing health care. Can a healthcare system with financial return obligations truly prioritize patients over profits?

Reparations for the Gullah represent redress for the injustices of slavery, the broken promises or reformation, and the continued disadvantages of lost inheritance that meant land cannot be used as an asset. Often, land developers have paid Gullah families less than their jointly held property was worth simply because the Gullahs lacked real choices. (Image: Oak Alley, McLeod Plantation, James Island, Charleston, SC, Creative Commons License.)

War is hell, as Michael Walzer says. The war convention licenses soldiers killing enemy soldiers. But one sordid aspect of it is the suffering it creates, not only among combatants but also among civilians, who suffer the “double effect” modern war invariably creates because so much of it relies on long-range firepower.

Just War Theory, despite the paradox of its name, provides a means for examining wars on the grounds of principle instead of strategy  alone.

Five times in national history the Electoral College has sent presidents who did not win the popular vote to The White House: 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016. Although polls show that 58 percent of U.S. adults favor amending the Constitution so that the popular vote would replace the Electoral College system, the party in power is not likely to promote such an upheaval.