occasional reflections on culture & politics
Is the Pandemic Over?Let’s see. Is the virus gone? No. Is its reach no longer global? No, it is still global. Are case numbers going down? Possibly, but we have stopped testing and measuring. Since Johns Hopkins took their dashboard down, getting good numbers has been difficult. Are the number of Covid deaths going down?… Continue reading #211: Is the Pandemic Over?
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
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
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
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