Sometimes, the attitudes of the masses — their own wised up version of the “conventional wisdom” — gets corroborated by official documentation. These instances may not be all that frequent, but they can be striking in the degree to which they validate popular suspicions. Such is the case with the…

After nearly three hours of presidential telecommunication and an arousing set of treaty demands, it’s safe to say we’ve reached the end of the foreplay. The Ukraine question has graduated to crisis level once again, and next week’s talks will (hopefully) feature real diplomacy. I was old enough to be…

In a recent piece, I focused heavily on the caprice and cruelty of the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military currently posing as its governing body. It’s vital to remember in cases like this also to examine the implications of such violent excess for those still vulnerable to it and those who’ve fled…

In your travels, you will encounter those who insist to you, smugly and with up-turned nose, that Seinfeld offers no valuable cultural insights or instructions for our modern crises. These people are abject fools to be avoided, as it were, “like the plague.” For those who dismiss the old sitcom’s…

It has been nearly a year since the coup against Myanmar’s civilian government brought its promising democratic transition to a violent halt. I can remember my odd mixture of concern and exhilaration when I first saw the BBC headline on February 1 alerting me to the news. The source of…

The first great loss of one’s life brings with it a peculiar set of emotions. This is my impression, at least, since I as yet lack the comparative reference that comes with age or early misfortune. The mixture of course includes sadness, gloom, and heightened feelings of love and admiration…

Between 1910 and 1925, the Irish struggle for independence served as one of the primary sources of inspiration for Marcus Garvey’s pan-Africanism and was perhaps its central model. The relationship between the Irish republican movement and early 20th century pan-African movements like Garveyism offers insights into Irish racial status according…

In two of his most important works, The Future of an Illusion and Civilization and its Discontents, Freud identifies religious illusion and perpetual guilt as threats to the viability of civilization. Relying on psychoanalysis, he evaluates the extent to which each can be overcome. Since a critical theory must offer…

In the Genealogy of Morals, Nietzsche successfully attacks Christian morality and persuasively calls the value of moral values themselves into question. He thus advances a normative vision of a new morality which affirms the individual’s fundamental will to power and finds its justification in broad aesthetic appeal. Though compelling, Nietzsche’s…