Monday, March 18, 2024

In Defense of Law and the "Rules-based international order"

It is better that the rules-based international order – law – exist than that it not exist. On the other side of that order are Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin, Viktor Orbán, and, yes, Donald Trump. Also on the other side are Benjamin Netanyahu and Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar.

Like love we don't know where or why,
Like love we can't compel or fly,
Like love we often weep,
Like love we seldom keep.
– WH Auden, “Law Like Love”

Neo-Feudalism, Anti-Capitalism

Speculators may do no harm as bubbles on a steady stream of enterprise. But the position is serious when enterprise becomes the bubble on a whirlpool of speculation. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. The measure of success attained by Wall Street, regarded as an institution of which the proper social purpose is to direct new investment into the most profitable channels in terms of future yield, cannot be claimed as one of the outstanding triumphs of laissez-faire capitalism — which is not surprising, if I am right in thinking that the best brains of Wall Street have been in fact directed towards a different object. – Keynes

Friday, February 9, 2024

Sunday, January 7, 2024

Biden as Scapegoat

Biden is, yet again, being scapegoated. Perhaps this is propaganda that this is being pushed by some group; it is striking the way Biden gets no credit for his genuine successes, while every failure is magnified.

Israel, Palestine, and the World: Fractally Bad

I open a book and get a report on future events that even God would like to file and forget. - Philip K Dick

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

A Black Christmas in Israel-Palestine

(And not the good sort of Black.)

The immediate need in Israel-Palestine, right now, is to remove Benjamin Netanyahu from power, and stop the genocide in Gaza. Afterwards, there may be time to think of solutions. – Justice in Israel-Palestine, Dec 3, 2023

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

Substack and the Nazis

We have recently had a kerfluffle; online publisher Substack has been criticized for publishing Nazis. Jonathan M. Katz at the Atlantic wrote about it at length, and a group of Substack authors wrote a letter asking Substack to get rid of the Nazis. Unfortunately, Substack is one of the few places on the internet where a freelance author can build a following and make money at it, so it’s hard for authors to walk away. Substack’s publisher responded with a letter defending the practice as free speech, which is just nonsense – Substack blocks plenty of authors, just not Nazis.