I know I could be a lot more popular as a writer. Particularly locally. All it would take is for me to lie.
Tag: military
The Religion of the State
Many objects have been turned into totems, but among the most common are flags, which are emblems signifying an association with a group and a cause taken to be larger than any individual. There’s hardly a need to point out how the flag is venerated in the United States — especially these days.
A Self-Advertised Hypocrite Attracts Attention
If you are going to be committing acts of law enforcement against your neighbors, you might want to consider not being a hypocrite.
Trump Assumes Command of the American Church
As Donald Trump demonstrated in his first address to Congress, no matter how loathsome a ruler may be, he can bring an assembly of politicians to its feet and disarm some critics simply by invoking the quasi-secular faith — Americanism — and eulogizing the latest uniformed war-state employee to sacrifice his life for it. Trump has indeed shown he can fill the job expected of any president: supreme head of what Andrew Bacevich calls the Church of America the Redeemer.
POTUS
I have come upon a new usage for the term POTUS. Actually, it is an old usage. It refers to the position but not directly to the incumbent. This works in the same way as does the juxtaposing of tyrant and tyranny. Is there a difference between the Emperor of Rome, Caesar, Nero, or Caligula?
Should Governments Even Try to Solve Problems?
Otto von Bismarck famously described politics as “the art of the possible, the attainable.” People who like politics love this sentiment. It suggests workable pragmatism rather than impractical principles, compromise over conviction, action rather than inaction. I find this sentiment both hypocritical and misleading.
Excusing Aggression Does Not a Libertarian Make
“Well mostly I want people to be free, and mostly I want government leaving people alone, but in this case, for the good of society, I think it’s necessary for government aggression to be widely used, because the alternative is too scary!”
Getting from Here to There
I’ve been pondering “gradualism” and “pragmatism”– things over which I have disagreed with people in the past. And, I’ll probably continue to disagree in the future. Let me illustrate my thinking.
Authority and Morality
The decisions people make and the directions that people go in may in the end not serve them or lead to the kind of results that they want, but that is for each person to discover on their own. Advice can be given, suggestions can be made, but ultimately each person must walk their own path themselves. To try to play games of authority is to attempt to ignore all of this.
Children Are Not Interchangeable Cogs
Variations of this picture of educational cogs have been widely distributed in schools. Education works best, we are told, when all the parts work together. The picture shows three gears, arranged in a circle. If you remember your studies of mechanics, this arrangement cannot possibly work.