occasional reflections on culture & politics
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?
Since the end of World War II, the transatlantic focus has been on the northern hemisphere. This is a result primarily influenced by three factors: The inevitable realization that the defense of Europe against any aggressor can only be successful if North America, especially the United States, is included in any European security framework. Any… Continue reading #91: The Transatlantic Perspective Needs to be Global
Brexit is not possible. That is, Brexit in any meaningful sense of the word. Whatever meaning may have hidden in the idiotic phrases and jingoism of "Brexit Means Brexit", behind empty cries for sovereignty, taking the country "back" to wherever, whatever the original intention: A complete and clean break with the EU is simply not… Continue reading #64: The Illusion of Brexit
Bear with me. The Greek word “apo-“ means “away from”, or “un”-, and “kaluptô” means to cover, hide, veil. “Apokalypsis” simply means Uncovering, Unveiling, bringing that which was once hidden into the light (alas the phrase in the Latin Requiem, “quidquid latet, apparebit”: whatever hidden, appear it will); to reveal something. Alas, the book of… Continue reading #17: Coronavirus: This is the Apocalypse
There is this anecdote that on July 4th 1776, King George wrote into his Journal "Nothing is Happening Today." These were the times without instant worldwide communications, and surely, he could not have known what had just happened in the American colonies. And as most such famous quotes go, it very probably is not true,… Continue reading #10: Corona, or, Nothing Important Is Happening Today
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