occasional reflections on culture & politics
I get it. Covid sucks, and we all – including myself – would like to return to normality. After all, don’t we have vaccines and treatments? Doesn’t psychological damage count too? How about the economy, about our democracy? Can’t we just say, this is it? Reality is what it is no matter what you wish… Continue reading #194: No, the Pandemic is Not Yet Over
The resistance to the pandemic abatement has revealed the strength of a very popular narrative: The story of the lone hero, in this case, the lone renegate scientist who knows something that nobody else knows, that shows that everyone else is wrong, and that there is a different reality waiting to be discovered underneath what… Continue reading #103: The Story About the Lone Renegate Scientist Showing That Everyone Else Is Wrong
If you are vaccinated against Covid-19, you may be safer now from serious illness and death, with the caveat that virus mutations may still bring some uncertainty. Many vaccines seem mostly safe and effective, and adverse reactions are statistically not relevant, as far as we know now. But for many, vaccination does not seem to… Continue reading #101: The Mask Does not just Protect You but Others as Well
We are conditioned to think in political categories of “right” versus “left”, with an underappreciated center in between. This model has become deeply entrenched in political thinking, no matter how simplistic it actually is. Politically, “left” and “right” derive from seating arrangements of pro- versus anti-monarchist forces in the National Assembly during the French Revolution,… Continue reading #94: What Is Political Extremism Today?
Erratic Attempts 