Thoughts Along The Way https://www.durangoherald.com/section/columnists-thoughts-along-the-way/feed/ Stay informed with the latest breaking news, local stories, sports, business, weather, and community events from Durango, Southwest Colorado, and the Four Corners region. Fri, 10 Jul 2026 11:03:09 -0600 en-us 30 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/revisiting-the-garden-of-eden/ Trying to locate the source of the quote, I encountered a train of thought that I can’t help but believe we would do well to attend to. The relationship between human imagination and the environment of which we are a... Sun, 22 Jul 2018 15:20:54 -0600 719C7FD1-F312-50E6-E053-0100007F12F8 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/the-structure-that-lets-us-grow/ It was two weeks post-Royal Wedding when a Buddhist friend of mine who had watched the entire ceremony was eager to talk about it. The effect it had had on her surprised me. In our conversation, Ann, let’s call her,... Wed, 13 Jun 2018 18:46:57 -0600 6E8C680B-6E45-6690-E053-0100007F9A8C https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/what-became-of-the-virtue-of-civility/ Leigh Waggonerdu1-i-syn There was a certain agreed-upon decorum that was common, even expected among members of our society. Oh, I’m not naive enough to think that it was every single person who behaved this way. For the most part, though,... Tue, 15 May 2018 12:09:00 -0600 6C410FEA-2B02-70A0-E053-0100007FDED3 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/at-the-u-n-shame-in-the-u-s/ From the time I was given my U.N. badge to the time we left New York, I was immersed in an experience that opened a door on the world that could not have been opened in such a short time... Wed, 18 Apr 2018 11:36:49 -0600 6A2299D2-A59E-78F1-E053-0100007F0C54 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/hope-will-rise-when-we-quiet-our-minds/ Leigh Waggonerdu1-i-syn Maybe you would think that is because they are realists. Even though one is a monk and the other a priest, you may think that perhaps they look at the world as it is and find it hard... Wed, 14 Mar 2018 00:01:00 -0600 67695E43-0D45-30F7-E053-0100007FC0EC https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/does-dogma-sometimes-silence-you-me-too/ It is a book that is culturally bound. It is the product of a culture even more repressive than our own. Why should women in particular give it any credence at all? Well, there are women, and there are women.... Wed, 14 Feb 2018 17:18:46 -0700 652FDEF8-7CBF-6532-E053-0100007F1BC9 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/a-place-of-eternal-torment-never/ Leigh Waggoner I could have engaged with Ann about the theo-historical development of the concept of Satan (see “The Origin of Satan” by Elaine Pagels), or I could have parsed Biblical scripture for her, but she was so distraught, I... Sun, 28 Jan 2018 20:03:33 -0700 63DE1902-540A-6431-E053-0100007F9260 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/being-decisive-has-its-drawbacks/ He began by reviewing an experiment that showed that once we have decided how something is (whether that is a concept, a thing, or how something works), we react to contrary information in one of two ways. Some of us... Thu, 14 Dec 2017 15:54:45 -0700 6051733B-88E0-0CE5-E053-0100007F87B9 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/change-our-story-change-the-world/ As a society, we have drifted farther and farther away from something called a “center.” We live in a time of deep polarization that leads to tensions in the international sphere, in our own political realm, even in religion and... Tue, 14 Nov 2017 21:53:29 -0700 5DF45302-6D9B-5622-E053-0100007F3FA4 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/into-the-still-of-night/ Dark. Quiet. Still. No one had been on the roads. Houses were still unlit. But as I sat there, gathering myself together to begin my day, in the light of the car’s headlamps there was movement. First one, then another,... Tue, 17 Oct 2017 19:43:30 -0600 5BC70DFC-6519-2EB5-E053-0100007F0713 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/to-every-thing-a-season/ Of course, any of these can be rushed. Modern technology and pharmacology can be brought to bear as a woman labors to bring forth new life. As a rule, though, the less intervention, the better the outcome for mother and... Tue, 15 Aug 2017 19:26:08 -0600 56CCB90D-C91B-090B-E053-0100007F5118 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/we-live-by-story-choose-how-we-live/ Leigh Waggonerdu1-i-syn It seems it might depend on a number of factors, most especially the bent the particular brand of religion takes. Within Christianity, the only religion about which I have credentials to speak, understandings of the Bible, our sacred... Tue, 11 Jul 2017 18:01:48 -0600 540E8FE0-DACC-51EB-E053-0100007F4233 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/whatever-will-be-will-be/ Leigh Waggonerdu1-i-syn The question has to do with the notion of radical acceptance: “When should we just let things be what they are and unfold as they will?” Expansions on that question are such queries as (take a deep breath):... Thu, 06 Jul 2017 00:00:00 -0600 51DA6CB5-8687-5269-E053-0100007F2CD3 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/letting-go-of-fear-and-living-in-love/ In the story, he arrives riding a donkey accompanied by the cheers of ordinary folks who put palm branches on the road before him. King Herod is entering the town from the opposite direction. Riding a war horse, he is... Fri, 14 Apr 2017 09:00:00 -0600 4CE88086-7E3A-01DE-E053-0100007F55BE https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/dollars-rise-should-help-consumers/ Yes, there’s news like U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s announcement that he is throwing his hat into the Republican presidential contest. Yes, there’s news of Benjamin Netenyahu’s election as the next prime minister of Israel. And my current favorite, South Koreans... Sun, 30 Oct 2016 11:02:06 -0600 52A4AB49-0C18-455D-A0D0-E7BC29CB968E https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/weather-alters-your-day-and-your-economy/ Dread that I, like many others in the area, would be spending the next four hours shoveling tons of snow from my driveway, deck and sidewalk – and associated back pain. Dread that, at some point, the snowplow would come... Tue, 24 Feb 2015 09:30:42 -0700 5A05B971-0573-450B-9A70-7BA27E9CE9EE https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/a-vintage-economy-is-like-a-vintage-wine/ Combine this with the right micro-climate, and you get oenological bliss. Cross the wires, and all bets are off. And what of the 2014 vintage for the economy? Let me make some suggestions. Well, it is a bit precocious at... Tue, 30 Dec 2014 14:23:43 -0700 6CDE3915-7E47-4F29-B57B-D5466FAD7C80 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/political-fliers-dont-make-good-econ-textbooks/ Most of those voters have already made their decisions, but that doesn’t seem to stop any number of tax-exempt political organizations from showering hapless voters with a seemingly endless supply of fliers. Fliers of dubious quality. Sure, the paper stock... Tue, 07 Oct 2014 14:28:02 -0600 D5F8A30B-ADA0-407B-BDC6-4051A39B1E13 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/data-looking-good-if-you-believe-the-numbers/ Despite recent job-creation numbers below what many expected, which I suspect is a glitch, the U.S. economy’s performance is stellar when compared with other Western developed countries. U.S. inflation-adjusted gross domestic product growth has hovered around 2 percent the past... Mon, 08 Sep 2014 17:01:00 -0600 E5DC323D-76AD-4D16-9AAC-068AB9A4E6AB https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/education-pays-but-that-may-be-changing/ Education prices, which are growing faster than overall prices, also is nothing new. Also familiar is the constant reminder that students are unable to graduate in four years. Other anecdotal evidence points to the fact that college education is not... Tue, 12 Aug 2014 11:40:52 -0600 283E9280-3861-4001-A301-0C0C836994EF https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/financial-crisis-contained-at-least-so-far/ But I’m not so sure. Contained it might be, but the effects are long-lived. For example, the Federal Reserve often discusses weakness in the labor markets, particularly as the Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen is a prominent labor economist. And the... Mon, 19 May 2014 17:01:00 -0600 CCCFC740-8D89-4D02-92E5-269E01CEEEDC https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/bailing-banks-out-we-dont-like-it-but-we-do-it/ So, it was bailed out. The first time the axiom “too big to fail,” that is moral hazard, reared its ugly head. Yes, the same moral hazard phrase that has been bandied about by politicians, pundits and just about anybody... Mon, 21 Apr 2014 17:01:00 -0600 2F2B8A59-717A-4BA2-8D38-D22D72AA8CEB https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/school-trumps-minimum-wage-as-income-booster/ The answer was supposed to be “no.” The four years of the Carter presidency is frequently remembered as being somewhat dismal: the cooling of the Cold War; revolution in Iran; and steadily rising inflation. The demise of Led Zeppelin following... Tue, 25 Feb 2014 14:59:01 -0700 BD64CA0B-3CCA-46C0-A8DE-21B7ABE11538 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/supply-demand-of-pot-sales-may-follow-path-of-cheesepocalypse/ Kismet? Positive chi? Providence? Call it what you like, these two states have likely paved the way for the relegalization of dope – it became illegal nationwide in 1937 – for the rest of the country. Here in Colorado, on... Mon, 27 Jan 2014 17:01:00 -0700 B7D91B7D-8094-428F-A9B6-A857BAF007DA https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/economic-trends-erasing-worlds-middle-classes/ Economists have a pretty good idea of what a recession is, but we’re a little less hazy about what makes a “depression.” The so-called “Great Depression” was really a deep recession, but it was called a depression when unemployment grew... Tue, 03 Dec 2013 13:28:39 -0700 CBE37D7D-42F1-459D-8B34-BA8D6B6340B9 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/local-national-economy-shows-improvement/ Certainly, we have seen that the country as a whole seems to enjoying some low level of recovery, but it’s still somewhat lackluster. National labor markets and output continue to be anemic if one looks behind the standard numbers. But... Tue, 05 Nov 2013 14:24:29 -0700 FEFA2A6D-71B2-4CBB-A93F-A718F64E0353 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/federal-shutdown-puts-the-hurting-on-u-s-economy/ While it may be tempting to, once again, berate our fearless leaders over recent events in Washington, D.C., as I’ve been doing off and on for the past two years, it’s a little bit like shooting apples in a barrel.... Tue, 08 Oct 2013 13:48:42 -0600 0305B810-5F81-4FE9-82BF-E33B428D4B5D https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/eu-welcomes-my-summer-home-well-sort-of/ This juxtaposition is more prevalent where I currently am – Croatia. I’ve been coming here for several years now, to teach and research, and have witnessed many changes. On July 1, 2013, Croatia will join the European Union, which essentially... Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:01:00 -0600 D14F4A31-ECF5-4A9D-A0CA-9C32F8729566 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/cause-and-effect-in-a-changing-economic-world/ For example, just how does Jell-O get that wobbly consistency? Or what if Genghis Khan were a vegetarian? Similarly, in the United States, we don’t spend much time considering the economic impacts of various institutions. My macroeconomic upbringing concentrated on... Tue, 21 May 2013 14:38:25 -0600 57984B6B-8C0B-4236-BD65-0BF9B5ABCA25 https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/columnists/the-dismal-science-is-an-inexact-thing/ I refer to the recent revelations of a graduate student’s finding that two of the world’s leading economists, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, made an egregious Excel mistake. In a working paper, they show that a government debt-to-output ratio of... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:01:00 -0600 20881207-7F53-4FB6-B69D-DE445FB5558C