Yes, Trump is a horrible human being. Yes, Trump’s policies are horrible. But as I’ve written previously, Trump isn’t the problem. There’s a problem worse than Trump, and the U.S. has just made that problem worse. “Feckless” is a good […]
Read more
Category: Political
If You Think Trump Is The Problem, You Aren’t Part of The Solution
People ask me “when have things in the US ever looked this bad?” I reply, “1968, to name just the most recent time,” but I do understand their consternation. Things do look bad in the US and we need to […]
Read more
Clarifying the Political Spectrum
The notion of a left-wing/right-wing political spectrum has been with us for a long time. Visualizing political stances is certainly helpful. However, people seldom question what the left-right spectrum actually signifies. People, even scholars, use the labels of “left” and […]
Read more
Let’s Insert Some Philosophy into the Response to the Pandemic
It shouldn’t be a political debate, but somehow it is. What should we as a society do in response to the Coronavirus pandemic? Seems obvious to anyone with any humanity: save people’s lives. Bizarrely, some feel we shouldn’t spend efforts […]
Read more
Refusing To Wear Face Masks is Masking a Deeper Fear
One of the terms bandied about lately is “toxic masculinity.” The basic idea is obvious—that some men are so fixated on demonstrating how “manly” they are that they harm themselves and others in the process. I tend to frown on […]
Read more
Let’s Call Racism What It Is: Structural Cowardice
What is racism? Hatred? Yes. Ignorance? Yes. But the hatred spewed by ignorant racist views are symptoms of a deeper dis-ease. We need to call racism what it really is — something larger than any individual but that springs from […]
Read more
Sorry, No, I Won’t Vote For Biden
Yes, Trump is a terrible president and worse, a terrible human being. But that doesn’t mean I will vote for Biden, because that illusion that we are stuck with only two possible choices is a part of what’s wrong with American politics.
Read more
“If it happened once, it can happen again.”
“If it happened once, it can happen again.” – Primo Levi Not all wisdom is feel-good candy. Harsh truths can be the most important truths. The quote in the graphic above expresses one of the most important facts of our […]
Read more
What Owen Jones Almost Gets Right, I Mean Left
Owen Jones is a brilliant columnist for The Guardian. His writing is always worth a read. His most recent piece, “To move on, Labour must learn lessons from the left’s failure worldwide,” is up to his usual standards but curiously […]
Read more
A Brief Exchange About What Israel Represents
I recently had this exchange with a Jewish friend about Zionism and Israel. In italics is his question/statement and below is my response. This brief exchange in no way solves the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, but it is the type of dialog […]
Read more