This is a very serious question and deserves a serious answer. It is so serious that the New York Times has asked: Is “police reticence in the face of such protests, some led by groups like Black Lives Matter causing crime to rise in some cities”? The first answers are in. Those honorable folk, “the headsContinue reading “Is “Black Lives Matter” Aiding And Abetting Criminals?”
Author Archives: Samir Chopra
Reflections On ‘Imagined Communities’ – I: Children And Humanity
In Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (Verso, New York, 2006, pp. 10-11), Benedict Anderson writes: [R]eligious thought also responds to obscure intimations of immortality, generally by transforming fatality into continuity (karma, original sin, etc.). In this way, it concerns itself with the links between the dead and yet unborn, the mystery ofContinue reading “Reflections On ‘Imagined Communities’ – I: Children And Humanity”
My First Nightmares
There are times when my almost-three-year-old daughter will wake up in the middle of the night, crying inconsolably. Calming her down and putting her back to sleep is a trying business at best. We have been reliably informed that this age sees the child experience her first nightmares; perhaps those nocturnal visitors are responsible forContinue reading “My First Nightmares”
Teaching Self-Evaluation For The Semester That Was (Almost)
Classes for the fall semester ended last week; finals and grading lie ahead of me. It’s time for another self-evaluation of my teaching. As usual, I find myself earning a mixed grade for my efforts. This semester I taught three classes: Philosophy of Law, Political Philosophy, and Introduction to Philosophy. (Interestingly enough, this is theContinue reading “Teaching Self-Evaluation For The Semester That Was (Almost)”
‘A Manual For The Police On How To Conduct Beatings’
Leonard Strickland was beaten to death; in jail, by prison guards. Those who did so, and those who supervised them, were secure in the knowledge that very little would be, and could be, done to bring them to justice. History and the law is on their side. In 1992, in one of Clarence Thomas‘ earliestContinue reading “‘A Manual For The Police On How To Conduct Beatings’”
One Vision Of A Driverless Car Future: Eliminating Private Car Ownership
Most analysis of a driverless car future concentrates on the gains in safety: ‘robotic’ cars will adhere more closely to speed limits and other traffic rules and over a period of time, by eliminating human error and idiosyncrasies, produce a safer environment on our roads. This might be seen as an architectural modification of humanContinue reading “One Vision Of A Driverless Car Future: Eliminating Private Car Ownership”
ISIS, US Policy, And Feeding The Bogeyman
In ‘The Unbearable Lightness of America’s War Against the Islamic State‘ Stephen Walt supplies us the following pull-quote: What is needed is not a single presidential speech, but rather a sustained, all-out effort by top U.S. officials to remind their fellow citizens how safe they actually are. One often hears that fear is inherently irrationalContinue reading “ISIS, US Policy, And Feeding The Bogeyman”
Gideon’s Army: Fighting A Just War
The first time I saw Gideon’s Army, Dawn Porter‘s documentary about three public defenders fighting a lonely battle in the American South, I watched impassively, even as anger and sadness swirled within me. The second time I did so–yesterday, in a classroom with the students in my Philosophy of Law class–I blinked back tears. (MoreContinue reading “Gideon’s Army: Fighting A Just War”
Donald Trump’s Allies: Our Craven Media (And Our Apathy)
Here are some damning statistics (reported by the Washington Post) from “the Tyndall Report, which tracks the airtime that the various flagship news programs on NBC, CBS and ABC dedicate to a variety of stories.” Quick, depressing, highlights: 1. The Republican primary race received more than twice as much coverage as the Democratic contest. (The largerContinue reading “Donald Trump’s Allies: Our Craven Media (And Our Apathy)”
Donald Trump, Sabbatai Zevi, And The Unchastened Devotee
I have made note, here, of a habit of mine intended to prompt writing: Sometimes I scribble little notes to myself…prompted by observations while walking…by a passage read in a book…a scene in a movie. Sometimes they make sense when I return to them…and an expanded thought based on them finds its way into myContinue reading “Donald Trump, Sabbatai Zevi, And The Unchastened Devotee”
Samir Chopra 