Thursday afternoon was hot, summer-like. For a change of scene I took a short drive to Geneva to find a quiet spot outside to continue my reading in Simulacra and Simulation. Walking along State Street I felt depression, saddened by the view of boarded up store fronts. The property owners, no doubt called in…
I wrestle with words to characterize the condition of our society, as I perceive it. The “Ship-Of-State” is the metaphor that comes to mind. The image comes from Plato’s Republic book VI. Plato likens the governance of the city-state to the commanding of a naval vessel. I like the image, of a large ship. …
I have two, maybe three pages left in the book written by Albert Camus, The Rebel. Camus’ generation in France and Europe survived the horror of WWII and the murderous Nazi occupation. The Rebel is a manifesto, of what was learned from that experience. Today I offer a longish excerpt of Camus words, and…
This morning the news feed conveyed word of rioting in Minneapolis. Police officers in the course of arresting a black man while he was pinned to the ground, forced a knee into his neck long enough to kill him I’ve seen rioting, burning and looting before in the aftermath of the killing of M….
After waking, then consuming a bowl of cheerios for breakfast, I listened to The Daily. The Daily is a New York Times podcast. It is an in depth audio exploration of a something that affects all of us, and I often chose to listen with the earbuds in place. I recommend it. The Daily…
Culture: a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that members of society use to cope with their world and with one another, — transmitted from generation to generation through learning. culture as widely defined A fact is that which from being an object of the intellect becomes a matter of conscience;…
Yesterday we went for a walk in the woods, that is I and my son, with two grandchildren a boy of 6 and a girl of 5. The close proximity to life was thrilling, a reminder of how exceptional it is to observe, to be present when new life is emerging, expressing its efflorescence. …
The Growing Omnipotence Of The State All modern revolutions have ended in a reinforcement of the power of the State. 1789 brings Napoleon;1848, Napoleon III; 1917, Stalin; the Italian disturbances of the twenties, Mussolini; the Weimar Republic, Hitler. These revolutions, particularly after the First World War had liquidated the vestiges of divine right, still…
“God without man is no more than man without God.” — GWF Hegel Individuality replaces faithreason replaces the biblepolitics replaces religion and the churchearth replaces heavenwork replaces prayerpoverty replaces hellman replaces Christ. …to conquer God,to make Him a slave,amounts to abolishing the transcendencethat kept the former master in powerand to preparing,with the ascendancy of…
After finishing Albert Camus’s work, The Plague, I returned to the text to mark several sections of singular philosophical statement. The segment chosen this morning is relevant to consideration of our post-covid-19 return to “normality”, the start-up of the economy. It is unclear what economy will be possible. Capitalist economies are marketplaces designed for…
