occasional reflections on culture & politics
I. Identity politics is bad, or so it goes. Everybody should be treated as an individual, judged on their own merits, and without any consideration of group identity, history, present politics, representation etc. In theory, that certainly sounds good. We are indeed all individuals. Whatever group we may belong to should also be our choice,… Continue reading #210: Why (Some Degree of) Identity Politics is Necessary
Just now, I am listening to Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, named after the iconic moment in time that Leningrad survived German aggression. Germany, in its quest to eradicate what was considered “unworthy life” inside and outside its borders, pushing an aggressive nationalist agenda, determined to gain “living space” for its “ethnically cleansed” “purely German” population, set… Continue reading #208: The Perversion of Everything Russian: From Leningrad to Mariupol
What is Democracy? The typical answer would be the “Rule of the People.” While this is the direct translation of the Greek term, it is instructive that the original term used for Athenian democracy was Isonomy – “same rights for everyone.” The word “democracy” was used alternatively with “ochlocracy” as meaning “mob rule.” Why is… Continue reading #207: Democracy Only Works with a Strong Separation of Powers
“Μόνοι γάρ τον τε μηδέν τῶνδε μετέχοντα οὐκ ἀπράγμονα, ἀλλ᾽ ἀχρεῖον νομίζομεν.” –“We alone regard a man who takes no interest in public affairs, not as a harmless, but as a useless character.”– Περικλῆς (Pericles), 430 BC, in Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, 2.40, Jowett Translation “Just because you do not take an interest… Continue reading #206: The Importance of Being Political
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
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
Let’s just make one thing clear: What is happening in occupied Ukraine, what happened in 2014 in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, cannot be called referenda. They are fake. They are not elections. They are nothing but a performance of voting, but no actual voting is taking place. For an election or referendum or vote to… Continue reading #195: Fake “Referenda” Prove that Putin Doesn’t Want to Negotiate
Queen Elizabeth II died two days ago, and her loss was felt around the world. She has always been committed to her duty to represent the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, transcending that which remained of the Empire into a time of decolonization, new partnerships, a more European Britain, and eventually, sadly, Brexit. She lived… Continue reading #193: De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bene: We Owe Respect to the Dead
Mikhail Gorbachev was one of the greatest politicians of all time. Without him, the world today would be less free, more than 500 million people would still live in fear of an evil system that enslaved and terrorized them all over the world. That does not mean, of course, that he succeeded with everything he… Continue reading #191: Remembering Mikhail Gorbachev
As sanctions keep hurting Russia’s economic outlook, we keep hearing that the Russian people are able to endure anything, and that they will tolerate all of this, that it would be pointless to sanction the country and that we should just give in to Putin’s genocidal demands. Yet it is not the West which is… Continue reading #190: On the Ability of Russians to Suffer their Government
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