Posted in Media, Philosophy, U.S. Politics on June 12, 2008 | 8 Comments »
If there is one thing historians understand, it’s that history does really repeat itself exactly. History is the study of the past in all it’s local and unique particularity. Yet still, some forms of human behavior do fall into patterns, and when people make the same mistakes over and over again, it’s worth asking why.
The [...]
Posted in Foreign affairs, History, Philosophy, tagged anthony pagden, East & West, worlds at war on May 22, 2008 | 2 Comments »
For those of you interested in the rather big question of how concepts like East and West have evolved, and how such abstractions have influenced global history and continue to influence the politics of our day, Anthony Pagden’s Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle between East & West is very much worth reading. Here’s a [...]
Posted in Philosophy, Popular culture on May 14, 2008 | No Comments »
My friend Brett Grainger grew up in a hardcore fundamentalist Christian household. So thoroughly did he imbibe his family’s creed that one day, when he came home to an empty house, he feared everyone had been taken up by the rapture and he was left behind to endure the turbulent reign of the anti-Christ. Fundamentalist [...]
Posted in History, Philosophy, tagged aeneid, chivalry, elizabeth samet, iliad, warrior ethos on March 30, 2008 | 1 Comment »
“The Flight of Aeneas” (1595), by Peter Brueghel
I can’t remember if it was the late Col. David Hackworth or the late Col. Harry G. Summers Jr. (author of the influential retrospective on the Vietnam War, On Strategy) who made the telling point that any American general in World War II worth his stars would make [...]
Posted in Philosophy, U.S. Politics, tagged 300, Frank Miller, Shadia Drury on March 30, 2008 | 4 Comments »
300: The Heroic West versus the Decadent East.
In the film 300, we see an absolute division between two contending armies. The Greeks (and especially the vanguard forces of the Spartans) embody everything good about humanity: they are handsome, cherish freedom, treat their women well, and have healthy loving heterosexual families (that last bit is especially risible for [...]
Posted in Philosophy, U.S. Politics on March 17, 2008 | No Comments »
There are, we’re often told, no atheists in fox holes. I don’t know if that’s true but I would say that there are no purist free market Hayekians during a global economic meltdown. As we stare into the abyss created by decades of deregulation and lax oversight, of cheap credit as a substitute for social [...]
Posted in Philosophy, U.S. Politics on March 16, 2008 | 3 Comments »
The editors of the Wall Street Journal are forever praising the free market - until a crisis hits large investment firms. Then they hem and haw, muttering under their breath about the need for the Federal government to step in to underwrite loans and finance a needed bailout. Hence this remarkable editorial supporting the government’s decision to work [...]
Posted in Philosophy, tagged creationism, evolution, Ken MacLeod, Tony Blair on March 14, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Charles Darwin.
The novelist Ken MacLeod, deeply immersed lately in issues of religion and science due to his upcoming science fiction novel about the future of the faith wars, offers a very enlightening look at the unexpected rise of creationism in the United Kingdom, the homeland of the Darwinian revolution. A key player in this story [...]
Posted in Philosophy, tagged prostitutions, sex work on March 13, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Many theoretically minded pundits, myself included, have weighed in on the pros and cons of decriminalizing prostitutions. Notably missing on this debate (at least in mainstream outlet) are the voices of those most directly involved: the prostitutes themselves and their customers.This is a shame because sex work advocates (who are often former or current prostitutes) [...]
Posted in Philosophy, U.S. Politics on March 12, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Eliot Spitzer.
I’ve expanded my earlier thoughts about politicians and prostitutes into a National Post column, which can be found here.
An excerpt:
There is something tragic about the relationship between prostitutes and politicians. The two professions have a hidden affinity: Both are essential and perennial human activities that are unfairly maligned. If you label someone a politician [...]
