Month: January 2011

• January 31, 2011

  Michael Lind on the 5 worldviews dominating American politics

  In “The Five Worldviews That Define American Politics,” Michael Lind constructs a powerful conceptual framework in order to explain the trenchant, abiding political disagreements among Americans. The reason that you and I can’t see eye-to-eye is not that we disagree about the facts on the ground; it is that we begin from entirely different first…
• January 31, 2011

  On the joy of biking

  Is there anything more wondrous than biking again after a period of long rest following injury? Nietzsche calls happiness that “feeling that power increases–that a resistance is overcome.” The return to exercising capacities. The joy of movement for its own sake. The sublimation of aggression in the form of purposive movement. The enjoyment of the…
• January 30, 2011

  Notes toward an understanding of anarchism

  Update: Is there an anarchist revolution going on in Egypt? * * * According to the political philosopher Raymond Geuss, there are two kinds of anarchism. Philosophical anarchism involves rejecting the moral authority of the state while believing that the state is a “necessary evil.” Political anarchism goes further, arguing from the premise that the state’s…
• January 30, 2011

  On prudence

  When you hear the words “I’m interested in…,” turn on your heels and walk away.
• January 30, 2011

  Stepping off the self-preoccupation machine

  As a child, the great Bertrand Russell was very unhappy. He remained unhappy until he hit upon a rather old idea: forget about the self. He realized that self-absorption was an obstacle to genuine happiness. As the years went by, Russell tells us, he seemed to be getting more and more happy for he had…