Word: inertia
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Despite recent precedent, we know the Faculty is capable of overcoming institutional inertia and internal disagreements to effect concrete reform, which will benefit the University most if passed with deliberate speed...
...FranceI'm kind of turning into Gene Hackman, doing a lot of these juicy, supporting parts. But I don't mind. My ego isn't bruised by not playing the lead. It's nice not to carry an entire film. I'm a little bit lazy-I suffer from inertia...
...resistance to the inertia of contentment is far from a flaw. Where we may seem more doubtful than other countries hides a deeper, stubborn idealism. Even among the intelligentsia, very few are willing to man the barricades of revolution when disillusioned, or even to pack up and leave. Even amid widespread grumbling and malcontent, we observe levels of flag-waving usually only seen in the personality cult of a dictator. And while we constantly revise our views of our own Founding Fathers, mourning their unfortunate vices (such as slave-holding), they are still almost deified in our schools...
However, attempts to end capital punishment must overcome inertia and the weight of public sentiment. This isn't easy. In the U.S., support for the death penalty has fallen from a high of about 80% at the peak of the murder epidemic of the 1980s and '90s to somewhere between half and two-thirds, depending on the poll. But politicians know that a 69% approval rating is nothing to sneeze at. Only one state has abolished capital punishment since the Supreme Court reinstated it in 1976: New Jersey, last month. Legislatures in New Mexico, Montana, Nebraska and Maryland appear...
...Indeed, the secular observation of Christmas strikes not a few ironic chords. For one, Christmas persisting even in the absence of Christianity testifies to the raw force of inertia in long-observed customs. Those former Christians who have cast away their faith may think themselves more open-minded and rational, but they are merely paying homage to a mindless and irrational, albeit pleasant, tradition by continuing to celebrate the holiday...