Category Archives: History
Apparently, Ron Paul promotes “crazy” conspiracy theories. What frequently goes unasked is, in comparison to what? Continue reading
The current president, Barack Obama, asserted: “I have to side with Justice Breyer’s view of the Constitution—that it is not a static but rather a living document, and must be read [by the judiciary] in the context of an ever-changing world.” But something that can be endlessly reinterpreted can’t have definite meaning. And something so vague is contrary to what the Founding generation thought a Constitution was. Continue reading
Philosopher Sam Harris says we need government to address wealth inequality and social shortsightedness. I question the premises in support of that conclusion. Continue reading
The theory of evolution is not responsible for Nazi bloodshed. Continue reading
As anyone who has opened a newspaper or watched the news over the past few years knows, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been pursuing nuclear capability. Iran’s government insists its only goal is to develop nuclear power plants that would not threaten anyone. The United Nations, though, is concerned Iran might instead covet nuclear weapons. The United States is convinced that is the case. In any event, for an aggressive and fanatical theocracy such as Iran to research nuclear … Continue reading
How did the members of President George W. Bush’s foreign policy team rise to power? What events shaped their policy viewpoints and political worldviews? James Mann, in The Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush’s War Cabinet, seeks to answer those questions. He describes the careers of the six top “Vulcans”—officials who worked in the foreign policy apparatuses of past Republican presidents and returned under the latest Bush: Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Richard Armitage, Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney, and … Continue reading
Americans think of themselves as the freest people on Earth. After all, they say, they have rule by majority, equality amongst themselves, freedom to do whatever they want, and most importantly, freedom to think whatever they want. The First Amendment to their United States Constitution proclaims the government may not infringe upon freedom of speech. Americans can generally say whatever they want without fear of legal sanction or physical violence. Yet in his seminal work Democracy in America, Alexis de … Continue reading
“Killing to Acquire and Secure Power, for Dummies” would be an apt subtitle for Niccolo Machiavelli’s book The Prince. Within this work, Machiavelli advocates the unrestrained pursuit of power as its own end, without allowing such paltry things as ethics to interfere. If massacring a slew of people will help one get power, one should by all means do it, according to Machiavelli. These advocacies of violence for one’s own selfish ends are not Machiavelli’s only breaks with the teachings … Continue reading
