occasional reflections on culture & politics
I believe in peace. Nothing violates the dignity and existence of life like war. This is certainly clear, and there is not much controversial in such a statement. And yet, not everyone agrees. There are those who believe that war steels character, that it is a necessary cataclysm to bring about a clarifying and cleansing… Continue reading #205: If You Want Peace: Why We Must Help Ukraine
ПУТИН, ИДИОТ(PUTIN, YOU IDIOT) Путин, идиот,когда сам идёт,когда прочь идёш? тыпреступники надзиратель за преступниками:твои приказы - твои дела:убийца, насильник, поджигатель, мучитель,мелкий воришка и только бандит,убийца Чечни, Сирии, Грузии, Украины,угнетатель русских, белорусов и других народов,реабилитолог Сталина,головорез КГБ,воскреситель темницы народов,воскреситель гулага,воскреситель стукачества,воскреситель фашизма,разрушитель гласности,разрушитель перестройки,разрушитель демократии,разрушитель справедливостиразрушитель мира,уличный хулиган,лжец и детоубийца,тебе не стыдно? ты похититель фьючерсовразвратитель людейкак… Continue reading #204: Poem: Путин, идиот (Putin, You Idiot)
Ever since Ibram X. Kendi published his book How to be an Anti-Racist, resistance against his message has been very vocal. The main point of criticism is Kendi’s central assertion, as follows: “The opposite of racist isn’t ‘not racist.’ It is ‘anti-racist.’ What's the difference? One endorses either the idea of a racial hierarchy as… Continue reading #203: The Puzzling Resistance Against Anti-Racism
We are living in a world with many dangers, threats and uncertainties. And yet, panic, fear or depression would be the wrong answer. The only thing that really helps anyone is cautious optimism. You may ask, how can you be optimistic? It is a legitimate question. On the surface, I seem to be worried about… Continue reading #202: Fear Not: Why We Need to be Optimistic About the Future
"nie ma powrotu" = "there's no going back" Preface: Last night, I tried out the new ChatGBT bot available on https://chat.openai.com/chat. You need to register for free and then can assess whether we are already dealing with our electronic overlords. Today, questions of life and death were on my mind (after watching too much science… Continue reading #201: Adventures in Artificial Intelligence: An Evening with ChatGBT
I. When we speak (or write), does our positionality in this world matter? I recently stumbled upon a video in which someone expressed their ire against people starting a variation of a sentence like “I am speaking as an x person.” The position here – if I may simplify it as follows – is instructive:… Continue reading #199: Why Positionality Matters
We live in a world where it has become embarrassing to admit adherence to racial or ethnic discrimination. That does not mean that racism is gone, far from it, but people who harbor xenophobic or racist thoughts have learned how to hide them behind something possibly more justifiable. Anti-immigrant sentiment and racism can be hidden… Continue reading #198: LGBTQ Rights are Human Rights
In these depressing times, we seem to always be on the brink of the end of the world, the end of democracy, the end of a livable climate, the end of free speech, sanity, respect, fairness, justice, nuance, context, humanity, whatever – you name it. There is either too much or too little of wokeness… Continue reading #197: We Have Good Reasons for Hope
I NEED TO BELIEVE Corvallis, October 9th, 2022 – P#786 I need to believethat beneath all this sorrowbeneath all this painand all this senseless senselessnessis waiting a future timemuch better than the current onewaitingto be bornout ofallthis I need to believebecause without this beliefthere would be nothingkeeping mefrom seeking madnessrather than sanityand desperationrather than resilienceand… Continue reading #196: Poem: I Need to Believe
The destruction of a Soviet monument in Riga this week was quite the sight to behold: This strange obelisk celebrating, allegedly, the victory by the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany was erected in 1985 to celebrate Soviet imperialism and colonialism and demonstrate the USSR’s hold over Latvia, a country the Soviet Union conquered when it… Continue reading #189: Soviet Monuments Need To Go
Erratic Attempts 