Friedrich Nietzsche,Dmitrii Merezhkovskii,and the Russian Renaissance

The artistic, poetic, and literary movement in the years between 1890 and 1917 has long been known as the “Silver Age,” a name that does not convey the movement’s essence and one that was mostly used retrospectively. The artists, philosophers, and writers of the day gave their own name to this cultural flourishing, the “Russian Renaissance,” because they believed they were embarking on a rebirth of literature, culture, art, and religion similar to that of the European Renaissance. In their search for a new aesthetic vision, the Russian Renaissance turned to the classical world, especially ancient Greece. But their view of that culture was distinctly shaped by works of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. This article will highlight the particular, crucial role of Dmitrii Merezhkovskii in bringing a Nietzschean view of Greece into the Russian Renaissance. Merezhkovskii’s Nietzschean celebration of the classical world, and his belief that this world could reinvigorate Christianity and Russian culture, proved greatly influential for the artists, poets, and philosophers that followed him.     

Silver Alerts: A Notification System for Communities with Missing Adults

ABSTRACT

As the U.S. population ages, the prevalence of dementia will grow and communities will face the problem of older adults wandering or becoming lost. Silver Alert systems are programs designed to locate missing older adults with dementia or other mental disabilities. Such programs have been initiated in all but five states. Data collection for these programs is often minimal or incomplete. Social workers should be involved in prevention, follow up and education with caregivers, community members and law enforcement officers. When reviewing Silver Alert policy, special attention must be given to ethical concerns and protection of older adults‘ civil rights.     

An empirical investigation of heterogeneity in time preferences and smoking behaviors

In this study I exploit the findings of a population survey in which I had the opportunity to introduce questions on time preferences. The study uses retrospective data to estimate the relationship between present-biased preferences and the decisions to start and quit smoking. Respondents stating present-biased preferences are not more prone to start smoking but quit later in life, and after more failed attempts. These preliminary results strongly suggest that smokers form a heterogeneous population and it can be argued that such heterogeneity means that taxes on cigarettes are a blunt and inefficient instrument of public health.     

How income and tax rates provoke cheating – An experimental investigation of tax morale

Anecdotal evidence suggests that tax morale diminishes with income and with levels of taxation. We designed an experiment that enables identification of causal effects. Subjects carry out a sequence of real effort tasks. The income earned varies with individual differences in effort (combined with variances related to skill or luck) and with the exogenously given length of the tasks. For each task, subjects privately roll a die, whose value determines the tax rate, which is then reported by subjects. This provides subjects with an incentive to cheat. Tax morale diminishes with higher effort, which might find ethical justification, but also with longer tasks, which would not. We implement treatments that vary the range of taxation. Contrary to widespread belief, participants’ tax morale is invariant to these treatments. Our findings are best explained by a psychological force that tempts rich people to cheat more. This force does not seem to be related to fairness ideals that are prominent in theories of distributional justice nor to absolute levels of taxation.     

A tax can nudge: The impact of an environmentally motivated bonus/malus fiscal system on transport preferences

Bonus-malus taxes appear to have been successful in encouraging people to change to less polluting travel options in France (e.g. the tax on large and small engined cars). We hypothesize that they have three possible effects on consumer behaviour. The positive effects are: (1) a price effect (the less polluting option is subsidized and the polluting option is taxed); and (2) a social norm effect (the less polluting option is classified as pro-social and the polluting option as antisocial). The negative effect (3) is that they may decrease intrinsic motivation (crowding out). We provide an initial test of this tripartite model using survey data on students given a choice between taking the plane or the train between Toulouse to Paris. The first study shows that imposing a hypothetical bonus-malus tax has both a price effect (relative to a control condition where only the norm justifying the tax is presented) and a norm effect (relative to a control condition in which only the corresponding price difference is presented without mention of the tax). The second study presents a set of choices where the environmental norms and price differences are held constant, but the size of the contribution of the bonus-malus tax to the final price of each option is varied. This study confirms our prediction that a larger bonus-malus subsidy/tax reduces propensity to choose the less polluting option (i.e. the train). As the positive effects outweigh the negative effects in most of the choices studied, we conclude that bonus-malus taxes constitute a promising policy instrument.     

抗战时期地方的党团之争——以国民党自贡市党部被毁事件为例

抗战时期的党（国民党）团（三青团）关系是研究国民党战时体制的重要组成部分。作为抗战时期国民政府重要的盐产区,四川自贡地区国民党地方组织与三青团地方组织之间关系复杂,权力竞争激烈。在一场涉及盐业工人纠纷的事件中,党团双方爆发了激烈冲突。虽然在国民党和三青团中央、四川省政府以及自贡市府的斡旋下,事件看似得到平息,但党团矛盾并未得到根本解决,且日益成为威胁国民党政权的重要因素。这一事件既反映出党团双方在地方层面的冲突实况,也充分暴露出它们争夺地方政治资源的经常性和残酷性。     

集体观照下的身份选择与构建——解读班芭拉的小说《吃盐者》

多元文化背景下少数族裔如何建立起自身独特的文化身份认同,是美国当代黑人女作家班芭拉在长篇小说《吃盐者》中提出的关键问题。对此她给出的解答是,在主体性身份的构建过程中,明确个人的自由与责任,建立与本民族文化的联系才是唯一正确的选择。     

国家治理视野中的现代财政制度——解读十八届三中全会《决定》中的深化财税体制改革问题

财政作为现代国家长治久安的制度保障,是国家治理的基础和重要支柱,也是这次全面深化改革的重点之一。现代财政制度主要包括预算制度、税收制度、事权与支出责任相适应的制度三个方面。其核心要义在于,建立全面规范、公开透明的现代预算制度体系;按照统一税制、公平税负的原则,完善现代税收制度体系;遵循划分事权、以支定收的思路,构建现代政府间财政关系。     

据台初期日本政商界对台湾的盐政调查——以台湾总督府民政局调查档案为中心

甲午战争之后,作为具有重要战略地位与丰富资源的台湾被日本强行割占,沦为殖民地。自此开始,台湾在日本的残酷压迫下,逐步走向＂日本化＂与殖民化,成为日本继续发动侵略战争的后方基地与经济附庸。甲午战后,日本占据台湾初期,日本侵略者相继对台湾盐田进行实地调查并呈报复命书,寻求发展台湾盐业。自1895年至1905年间,台湾总督府对岛内产盐地区共组织进行了三次大规模盐业调查。这三次盐业调查使日本政府及台湾总督府对台湾盐政制度及产销关系有了较为完整而明确的认识,从而为其制定相应政策提供了重要参考。     

海陵监和西溪盐仓考

海陵监在中国海盐史发展上有着重要的历史地位,通过对海陵监和西溪盐仓史料的梳理,认为海陵监的设立时间应在乾元年间,设立地点在东台西溪,并认为在西溪三相中,晏殊实际上并未在西溪任职过,是前人之误会。