Politics
A collection of 704 posts
Affirmative Action Conundrums
People of goodwill tie themselves into the most absurd intellectual knots as they attempt to discuss affirmative action without acknowledging its inherent unpleasantness.
In Defense of Objective Knowledge
Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. ~Martin Luther King Some ideas achieve longevity because they are relentlessly exposed to challenge, falsification, and disconfirmation. At the scale of nations, anti-fragile constitutions that enshrine individual freedoms, personal liberties, and legal amendment fare better than societies that prioritize the
Ethiopia’s Stunning Battlefield Reversal
A year is a long time during warfare, and the Tigray conflict that began last November has now been flipped on its head. Not many observers saw the current scenario coming. The world’s recurring tendency to forget Ethiopia, noted by the eminent 18th-century British historian Edward Gibbon, has reasserted
Human Nature and Political Philosophy
As many have pointed out, the radical progressive version of social justice has all the hallmarks of a religion.
Tibet’s Long Fight for Freedom
Not unlike Hong Kong’s frontline protesters in 2019, with their street battles and Molotov cocktails, some Tibetans have realised they live in a time that calls for truly desperate measures.
‘Woke Racism’—A Review
How will dropping to one’s knees and admitting one’s privilege end the mass incarceration of black Americans caused by the disastrous failure of the War on Drugs?
Bad News—A Review
A review of Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy by Batya Ungar-Sargon. Encounter, 312 pages. (October 2021) In Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy, Batya Ungar-Sargon, the deputy opinion editor of Newsweek (where, full disclosure, she has published two of my essays), argues that elite left-wing
From Playboy Sports Star to Islamist Politician: The Strange Turn of Imran Khan
A further irony is that while Khan presses ahead with entrenching Islam in every nook and cranny of the polity and society, other Muslim-majority countries, including Saudi Arabia, are toning down the hard-line version of Islam that they have long promulgated.
Vaccine Rejectionism and the Left
The coronavirus pandemic has caused massive backtracking and spin-doctoring among progressive parties over bioengineered vaccines.
Confronting the Supply Chain Crisis
A pandemic-driven shortage of parts and labor has combined with a congested transport system to create an inflationary spike, with shipping rates doubling on some routes.
Guns, Germs, and Steel is a Powerful Anti-Racist Book. So Why Doesn’t the Left Love It?
In the aftermath of the Holocaust and the atrocities committed by European empires, the Western world awoke to the horrors that humans are capable of committing against those they perceived to be inferior.
In Defense of Good Power
Power has to be allocated. If this is done in a truly meritocratic fashion, it is not only accepted by those who become subordinated, but also met with their approval.
Why Australia Opted for AUKUS
While Reuters reports that the French had ample warning the project was in trouble, the AUKUS announcement and the cancellation of the submarine contract nevertheless took them by surprise.
Sandinista! The US Left and Nicaragua
Recent events in Nicaragua have caused stirrings of unease among many of Ortega's previously loyal US supporters, and in some cases, strident criticism.