The only two print publications I read cover to cover these days are Foreign Affairs, well-respected and pragmatically oriented around America’s foreign affairs, and Dissent Magazine, unapologetically leftist and very intellectual. In some ways, these magazines are nearly opposite each other. And yet, they are brethren in the dwindling tradition of genuinely penetrating analysis and intellectual honesty. Dissent regularly trashes the self-deceptive foibles of blaha liberalism, and Foreign Affairs would as readily publish Castro as Blair (or so I imagine).
Anyway. All I wanted to do here was link to one of the most evocative things I’ve read in years - something about these passages gets to me more than any actual poetry. The piece is just the mix of epic drama and dispassionate intelligence that I like most, and you can find it here. Go ahead, it’s worth the five minutes.
hmm.
I always think small: it doesn’t just come easier, it comes naturally. It occurs to me that ideology is a direct product of religious dogma, only without the benifit of solid structural underpinnings… a codification of moral standard, maybe?
For instance, in my personal experience, it seems to me that it’s in those very places that people tend to slaughter each other for group dynamics, they tend to be much more kind, giving and generally kind to one another on a personal level.
I don’t believe the wetern ideals will die- they’ll just downsize. Sooner or later, the dynamics of commerce will shift irrevocably towards other centers, more profitable for corporate entities, and leave the west with a balanced share of resources. Maybe then, we can see if the whole humanist project holds without the benifits of indipendence from control of material goods and capital.
(pardon the disorganized rant… still bears some thought)