occasional reflections on culture & politics
https://youtu.be/AasjWiIFu_g If you see yourself as a believer in justice, as dedicated to the fight against oppression and exploitation, ask yourself: What is the biggest justice? What is the purpose of the fight against oppression and exploitation? The answer can probably only be as follows: The preservation of human life, ideally of all life, in… Continue reading #229: Fighting for Love in Times of War
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
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
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
We all die. It will probably happen sooner than we would have hoped. As Aristotle has made clear, every story has a definitive beginning (before which there was nothing relevant to the story), a middle, and an end, a conclusion, a destination, a telos which concludes this one specific story. Now, I am not sure… Continue reading #137: Live Every Day in Love
It is so easy to get caught up in why we all cannot get along. History is a constant source of grievances, both legitimate and illegitimate and everything in between, and we could find all sorts of reasons for having us convinced that we cannot, should not, must not – and how dare you to!… Continue reading #61: We All Need to Appreciate Each Other
If there is one thing that I have seen missing more and more in the world it is the willingness to take into account the feelings, thoughts, and perspectives of another living being. Too much of what is going on around us seems more and more built on the rejection of the perspectives of others.… Continue reading #38: Radical Empathy
Erratic Attempts 