Society
Exploring "Why" questions about Society
480 articles
why has California not legalized pot beyond medicinal use?
Some of the most well funded anti-legalization lobbies in the state are sponsored by the legal dispensaries and co-ops. They would hate to have inexpensive, high-quality, locally and responsibly sourc
Why are some former presidents referred to as former President and some referred to as President?
"President" is an official title, but it is also a job. If you were ever the President of the United States, you are entitled to use the title President for the rest of your life. Thus, everyone who w
Why aren’t there any successful third party candidates in major United States Elections?
First Past the Post voting, which is the system we have, encourages strategic voting, which discourages diversity. Basically if a simple plurality wins, then everyone is encouraged to pool together an
Why is the Filibuster still legal? Are there any actual redeeming factors to it?
The problem isn't the Filibuster, it's that the filibuster is being abused. What you're seeing with Rand Paul is EXACTLY what the Filibuster is supposed to be. You hold up Senate business because ther
Why do schools still insist on standardized tests even though all the teachers and students find them to be dumb?
Pretty simple. Because they are easy to grade and organize students based on a score. There are much better ways to gauge learning, but they require a lot more time and effort than filling in bubbles
Why aren’t there hedge funds for middle class / poor people?
Hedge funds can only accept a certain number of customers by law, so they will generally only take wealthy people. A lot of them have minimum buy ins.
Why is the minimum age for president in the US 35? Is there something special about that age, or is it just kind of a number that was decided on a long time ago and was kept around?
The main reason is it really is just an arbitrary number they chose, but one which is sufficiently young enough to allow a good portion of the civic population access to the office with a reliable "li
Why can states allow minimum wages that are below the federal minimum wage level?
States with lower minimum wages like Arkansas $6.16, Georgia $5.15, Minnesota $5.15, and Wyoming $5.15 only apply to businesses that are not subject to the regulation of the FLSA. Generally, a busines
Why Julia Louis-Dreyfus does Old Navy commercials even though her family is extremely rich and she was on a successful TV show?
Money is a weird thing. If you ask scientists, it doesn't take a lot of money to be happy: the money varies from place to place, but by the time you are earning $75K/year, there are very few areas in
Why is it Creationists disbelieve in evolution? More so, is there something in the bible that disputes evolution? Could God not have “created” evolution?
If one believes in a literal interpretation of the Bible, then there's really no room for evolution. It is certainly possible to believe in evolution and God, if you don't take a literal view of Genes