13 11, 2020

The Ecstatic Agony of Jeffrey Toobin

By |2020-12-11T21:12:58+00:00November 13th, 2020|Practice, Theory|0 Comments

Mr. Toobin is a celebrity.  Therefore, he has no right (as it were) to lower himself to our level or at least not in such a way that we are made aware of it. Discretion is the better part of ardor, especially for those in the public eye. Since those who wield power (control over other people’s destinies) belong to the priestly caste of society, they must relinquish the life of the peasant in exchange for their rank as sanctified members of the hierarchy. The peasant is no better than an animal; the priest must not descend to the level of the peasant, or be witnessed doing so, lest the peasantry become disillusioned, and begin to question their lack of status, let alone, rebel against priestly authority. That violates the tacit social contract (or unstated Freudian bargain) that we make with our living symbols of supernal grace.

23 10, 2020

Why I Signed the “Dump Trump, then Battle Biden” Open Letter

By |2020-11-20T18:42:00+00:00October 23rd, 2020|Practice, Theory|1 Comment

I surprised myself, because the position of advocating a lesser-evil vote – not for myself in Massachusetts, but for those in “battleground” states – is one that I would not ordinarily take. But this is not an ordinary moment, and the allowance for this kind of exception finds strong precedents, including in the strategic thinking of Marx.

13 08, 2020

Lebanon: This Time It’s Different.

By |2020-10-08T16:13:42+00:00August 13th, 2020|Practice|0 Comments

Historically, Lebanese politicians have comprised and struck bargains across the sectarian divide to form governments. A political class in Lebanon has existed for decades and typically “new” governments have simply been re-configured versions of the old. However, recent protests, rooted in the 2015 garbage crisis, have taken on a different flavor. The protests of old were very often driven by sectarianism, but these newer protests appear to be driven by a unified public. On the heels of a global pandemic and a massive economic crisis in which many Lebanese struggle to have enough food, the port blast may very well be the proverbial last straw for the public.

27 03, 2020

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID): Pros and Cons

By |2020-04-03T17:25:40+00:00March 27th, 2020|Practice|1 Comment

I favor the pro-life position on the abortion issue, all the while realizing that many good and decent people disagree with me. Why do they disagree? It seems they are influenced by popular claims and arguments favoring the pro-choice view. I intend no disrespect to anyone in saying this, but I think that many popular claims and arguments favoring the choice for abortion consist of knots of illogic that should be untangled.

18 10, 2019

Jagmeet Singh, Abortion, and Illogic

By |2019-11-08T03:06:36+00:00October 18th, 2019|Practice|0 Comments

I favor the pro-life position on the abortion issue, all the while realizing that many good and decent people disagree with me. Why do they disagree? It seems they are influenced by popular claims and arguments favoring the pro-choice view. I intend no disrespect to anyone in saying this, but I think that many popular claims and arguments favoring the choice for abortion consist of knots of illogic that should be untangled.

23 05, 2019

Three Fundamental Principles in Trump’s American Foreign Policy

By |2019-06-19T16:22:42+00:00May 23rd, 2019|Practice, Theory|0 Comments

Trump’s principles have reshaped the American foreign policy matrix. However, the foreign policy focus of US presidents in their first terms is not always the foreign policy focus at the end of their second terms.

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