Troy Smith

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Articles

Americans overwhelmingly want change - Sparta Live

2 months ago | spartalive.com | Troy Smith

I’ve been talking a lot the past month or so about robber barons, past and present, and the need to push back against them. In doing so, I must point out, I have very explicitly stated that it is not merely being wealthy that makes a robber baron, it is how that wealth is used. There are some extremely wealthy people who make a very positive difference in the world and who have empathy, compassion, and sincere concern for the community. I know many such people personally and appreciate them.
Monopoly-but with your money - Sparta Live

Jan 17, 2025 | spartalive.com | Troy Smith

In my last couple of columns, I have discussed, in some detail, the Gilded Age and the “robber barons” associated with it. I briefly mentioned the Populist Movement and the Progressive Age. This week I’ll give a little more detail on those. As previously noted, middle-and-working-class people pushed back against the robber barons by forming farmers’ alliances and unions.
What Democrats need to learn how to do - Sparta Live

Nov 25, 2024 | spartalive.com | Troy Smith

Last week, I said I would talk about what the Democrats could have done differently and why things may have turned out the way they did. The short answer, of course, is that a majority of voters preferred Trump and the vision of the future that he offered. How can we reach those voters next time? A lot of pundits and talking heads are asking this question.
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly - Sparta Live

Nov 7, 2024 | spartalive.com | Troy Smith

I am writing this column more than two days before the election, yet you will be reading it two days after. I don’t know what will happen - at this point it looks like it could go either way - whereas you know what has happened already, assuming it is decided within two days (and who knows if it will be), all of which leaves me in a strange place to be writing.
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly - Sparta Live

Nov 7, 2024 | sparta.staging.communityq.com | Troy Smith

I am writing this column more than two days before the election, yet you will be reading it two days after. I don’t know what will happen - at this point it looks like it could go either way - whereas you know what has happened already, assuming it is decided within two days (and who knows if it will be), all of which leaves me in a strange place to be writing.
Opinion: The Electoral College

Nov 2, 2024 | deseret.com | Troy Smith

The next president of the United States may, again, be the candidate with the fewest popular votes. This has happened only six times in U.S. history (1800, 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016), but twice in the last six elections. What were America's founding fathers thinking when they created the Electoral College to select the president? Should we replace the Electoral College with a more democratic system for electing the president?
Sustaining America's priceless legacy of peaceful transfer of power

Sep 29, 2024 | deseret.com | Troy Smith

One of America's greatest political legacies is its peaceful transfers of power. Before the United States, transfers of power were rarely peaceful and often dangerous affairs. Indeed, many political theorists consider transfers of power, even within families, as the most difficult political problem. Yet for over two centuries, U.S. presidents have upheld a legacy of respecting an election's outcome with peaceful abdication.
Weird how the tide is turning - Sparta Live

Aug 15, 2024 | spartalive.com | Troy Smith

I am going to say something that might shock you. I don’t care much for Donald Trump. I think he is a self-centered authoritarian who cares nothing for the country, the Constitution, or his own supporters. Everything is transactional, and everything is centered on him. He is the most venal, dishonest, and treacherous person ever to occupy the Oval Office, and in my opinion, and that of many historians and political scientists, a genuine threat to American democracy.
Why I could never stand J.D. Vance - Sparta Live

Aug 1, 2024 | spartalive.com | Troy Smith

Like the rest of the world, I had never heard of J.D. Vance until his book came out, in 2016. Everyone was talking about it and saying it “explained Appalachia,” so, as both a native and a scholar of Appalachia, of course I had to check it out. By the end of the first chapter, I was angry, and, by the halfway point, I was outraged.
A brief history of Israel and Palestine-Part 6 - Sparta Live

Jul 18, 2024 | sparta.staging.communityq.com | INItalian Drunken Noodles |Troy Smith

So much is going on, I debated with myself whether to return to my ongoing series about the history of Palestine this week. I decided to do so, for two reasons. One, whether we’re looking at Biden’s age issues and the fate of his campaign or the assassination attempt on Trump, it is all still unfolding as I write this.