There is gaslighting and then there is cheap gaslighting which is, in some ways less bad and in some ways more bad. One of my employers in politics, a politician I worked as an aide for, was utterly shameless in his cheap gaslighting. He lied in ways that were obviously lies. You see, he knewContinue reading “Cheap Gaslighting”
Tag Archives: Anthropology
On the Professor Uju Tweet
The response to the Prof Usu tweet wishing for a painful death upon the late Queen Elizabeth II has resulted in backlash but not nearly the right kind. The heat of her rancor is concerning but what is most concerning is the utter lack of syllogism. The tweet was bat-shit stupid. Jeff Bezos responded toContinue reading “On the Professor Uju Tweet”
Reporting Fees: An Idea for Police Reform
As a member of Black Lives Matter, one of the greatest problems faced are nonviolent, nonsexual, incidents being handled by the police. While I ultimately support replacing the institution of the police with a form of social work, that is far off. Let it be granted that nonviolent and nonsexual incidents should often be reportedContinue reading “Reporting Fees: An Idea for Police Reform”
Communicating Complexity and Nuance to the Less Educated
I work in political communications and the most difficult part of the job is the title of this piece. What makes it worse is when one’s boss, the politician, is, themselves, very stupid. I will freely admit the politician I ghostwrite for is a brainless male bimbo who didn’t know global warming caused hurricanes, didn’tContinue reading “Communicating Complexity and Nuance to the Less Educated”
Safety Versus Eudemonia in Third-Wave Feminism
Third-wave feminism is plagued by the Marxist belief in the false consciousness. That is that the proletariat would agree with the socialist intellectuals if only the elites had not brainwashed them. Therefore, it is the charge of the “vangaurd”, the socialist elites to unveil that brainwashing. The idea of the false consciousness has sometimes hadContinue reading “Safety Versus Eudemonia in Third-Wave Feminism”
Nickleback and the Neurochemistry of Irrational Hatred
It has often been said that people hate Nickleback because the internet hates Nickleback. By religious commandment, I must love everyone and hate nobody therefore I have been unable to indulge in this felicity. I, therefore, love Nickleback. With agape, of course. Certainly, not with eros and the band members are complete strangers to meContinue reading “Nickleback and the Neurochemistry of Irrational Hatred”
The Mainstream, The Fringe, and Liberal Pluralism
One of the most glaringly obvious failings of Rawls was to have a liberalism so pluralistic that to stop conspiracy theorists, nationalists, pseudoscientists, and the rest, we have to wait until they have gained more than enough of a following to do real damage. Eventually, the followers may do something violent after which our RawlsianContinue reading “The Mainstream, The Fringe, and Liberal Pluralism”
Britney Spears’ New Atheism
As a religious polemicist, I felt I could contribute something here. Now, my views on Britney Spears, like most of Hollywood, aren’t terribly great since they bend to market pressures and sell whatever unhealthy intellectual junk food the public so desires. Britney’s reasons for conversion to atheism were a bit, philosophically, weak and betrayed anContinue reading “Britney Spears’ New Atheism”
The Nausbaumian Intermission: The Brief Attempt at Liberal Eudemonia
While Nausbaum, in her opposition to Rawls, has mostly lost, her program did have a short success and its ultimate failure is the chronology of liberalism’s decline. Nausbaum’s program is for what one Captain Jean-Luc Picard would see as the apotheosis of liberalism. A world of florishing arts, high culture, and the development of humanContinue reading “The Nausbaumian Intermission: The Brief Attempt at Liberal Eudemonia”
Asexuality & Innocence
Perhaps, unsurprisingly, the chief characteristic of asexuals is innocence. I think to the vintage sex ed videos from the 1950s and 60s where a mature narrator starts talking about “changes” during puberty and it is there where the great divorce happens because the difference between an asexual and sexual worldview is one of philosophical, ideological,Continue reading “Asexuality & Innocence”
The Autistic Resistance 