Tag Archives: Marxism

Thinking Critically about Critical Theory

First thought. The broad takeaway insight of postmodernism is the following: there is always more in a text than the author knows or intends. This goes rather nicely with Nietzsche’s claim that “there are no facts, only interpretations.” But before … Continue reading

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Adam Smith and Capitalism for Beginners

One of the books the Scottish philosopher Adam Smith (1723-1790) wrote, The Wealth of Nations (1776), theorizes about the nature of capitalism. The word “capitalism” derives from the word capital, itself deriving from the Latin word caput, meaning head (as … Continue reading

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John Gray Skewers Slavoj Zizek

In the New York Review of Books, John Gray’s review of Slavoj Zizek’s career and most recent book, Less Than Nothing, is damning. At bottom, Gray pegs Zizek as an armchair revolutionary lending intellectual and moral support to terrorism and … Continue reading

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Donna Haraway’s Question: Would I Rather Be A Goddess Or A Cyborg?

Donna Haraway (b. 1944) teaches feminist and science studies in the History of Consciousness program at the University of California at Santa Cruz. In addition to taking a degree in English, she also studied biology at Yale. In 1985 she … Continue reading

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Sweatshops Are A Good Thing?

I’m uncomfortable with the arguments made in the below video, but I can’t think of any holes in them. And the calm rationality on display seems to invite complacency. But I was already complacent.

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If I don’t think Islam is an inherently violent religion, then what theory do I offer for explaining contemporary Islamic terrorism as a phenomenon?

I’ll offer one to start: the collapse of Marxism as an ideological force over the past 20 years has left the poor in formerly colonial powers at a loss for an ideological substitute for resistance to what they perceive as … Continue reading

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They Go There

This today from The Hill : The Secret Service may investigate a fax sent to a Democratic lawmaker that depicts President Barack Obama as the Joker and warns of “death to all Marxists.” The black-and-white fax portrays Obama in makeup similar … Continue reading

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This is What Democracy Looks Like? The G20 Economic Summit in London Could See Massive Protests and Violence

I generally support these types of demonstrations. It keeps democratic pressure on politicians. But the hanging of bankers in effigy? No thanks to that emotionally sick man’s hate projections and dehumanization of others. Keep the demonstrations nonviolent, hippie-positive, and life affirming. No … Continue reading

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Responsibility, Participation, and Complicity: The Marquis de Sade’s Clodomir, Herman Melville’s Turkey, and George Bush’s Lindy England

In the Maquis de Sade’s short story, “The Lady of the Manor of Longeville, or a Lady’s Revenge,” there is a particularly unsettling scene in which the aristocratic Lord of the manor, upon discovering that his 26 year-old wife is having an … Continue reading

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Euripides’s “Bakkhai”: Is Dionysus Jesus?

Euripides’s “Bakkhai” is an extraordinary play, and functions on many fascinating levels. At one level it can be read as an indictment of rationalism, and a warning to the audience against atheism. Toward the beginning of the play, for example, … Continue reading

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