As a callow boy, I used to confuse Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr. Fortunately, that ignorant conflation didn’t last too long and I soon got the two of them sorted out. The first one complicated my understanding of Christianity, the second that of my home for twenty-five years, the United States of America,Continue reading “Martin Luther King Jr.: Menace II (Racist) Society”
Monthly Archives: January 2013
A Beating, Dimly Glimpsed, Poorly Understood
Many years ago, I saw a terrible beating and didn’t realize I was looking at one. Till much later. No experience is unmediated; without membership in a linguistic community, without a background theory, there is no immediate experience to speak of. There is no ‘given’; to ‘experience’ is to know how to deploy a certainContinue reading “A Beating, Dimly Glimpsed, Poorly Understood”
David Runciman is a Little Confused About the Power of Confusion
In reviewing Ferdinand Mount‘s The New Few, or a Very British Oligarchy: Power and Inequality in Britain Now (‘Confusion is Power‘, London Review of Books, Volume 34, Number 11, 7 June 2012), David Runciman writes: James Burnham, author of the The Managerial Revolution (1941) envisaged a post-democratic order in which power was concentrated in the hands of an eliteContinue reading “David Runciman is a Little Confused About the Power of Confusion”
The Emperor Has No Clothes Ritual
In ‘Expect to be Lied to in Japan‘ (New York Review of Books, 8 November 2012), Ian Buruma writes: I decided to go on a little trip to Matsushima this summer because I had never seen this particular “Great View,” even though I had in fact been there once before, in 1975. Then, too, IContinue reading “The Emperor Has No Clothes Ritual”
Sneak Preview: Lance Armstrong to Redefine Douchebaggery
I do not yet know if I have the stomach to watch the Lance Armstrong interview tonight on the Oprah Winfrey show. Not alone at least. If I do, it will be in company so that we can turn it into spectator sport. That’s the least that Lance and Oprah deserve, a chance to beContinue reading “Sneak Preview: Lance Armstrong to Redefine Douchebaggery”
Gun Control, Propaganda, and the Susceptibility of Man to ‘Unreason’
In An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793), William Godwin wrote: Show me in the clearest and most unambiguous manner that a certain mode of proceeding is most reasonable in itself, or most conducive to my interest, and I shall infallibly pursue that mode, so long as the views you suggested to me, continue present toContinue reading “Gun Control, Propaganda, and the Susceptibility of Man to ‘Unreason’”
Against Their Will: Everywhere, All The Time, Drunk, In Packs
I thought I had said everything I wanted to about the horrible gang-rape case in Delhi, but I feel compelled to put down a few additional observations. They center on what made this case notable, and what perhaps needs a little more attention. In no particular order, here they are. First, the Delhi rape would not haveContinue reading “Against Their Will: Everywhere, All The Time, Drunk, In Packs”
Carmen Ortiz Did Not Act Alone in Hounding Aaron Swartz To His Death
No prosecution of war criminals, torturers and mass murderers; no prosecution of those that declare a war on false pretense; no prosecution of those that indulge in grand larceny and financial fraud, immiserating the lives of many; no prosecuting of the rich and the powerful; but over-zealous hounding of a young, idealistic, brilliant man whose onlyContinue reading “Carmen Ortiz Did Not Act Alone in Hounding Aaron Swartz To His Death”
The Masterpiece Too Horrible To Recommend: Francine Prose on Haneke’s Amour
Francine Prose–(what an excellent last name!)–titles her review of Michael Haneke‘s Amour ‘A Masterpiece You Might Not Want to See’, (New York Review of Books Blog, 7 January 2013) and begins with the following: Michael Haneke’s Amour is the ultimate horror film. With its portrayal of the shocks, the cruelties and indignities to which old age and disease subjectContinue reading “The Masterpiece Too Horrible To Recommend: Francine Prose on Haneke’s Amour”
Copy-Editing and Proofing Nightmares With a Twist
Dreams are revealing and so, I have never talked about my dreams on this blog. And perhaps that struck me as too self-indulgent. But that is a decidedly strange decision because, from time to time, I have indulged in many autobiographical ramblings here. Today, I’m going to recount one from last night, most certainly one ofContinue reading “Copy-Editing and Proofing Nightmares With a Twist”
Samir Chopra 