By now, you know the story. Tesla magically (remotely) updated the software of its cars during Hurricane Irma: Tesla remotely sent a free software update to some drivers across Florida over the weekend, extending the battery capacity of cars and giving extra range to those fleeing Hurricane Irma. According to reports, the update temporarily unlocked the full-batteryContinue reading “Tesla’s ‘Irma Update’ Shows The Dangers Of Proprietary Software”
Category Archives: Politics
Political Tactics, Antifa, And Punching Nazis
In response to my post ‘Punching Nazis in the Face and Anti-Antifa Critiques‘ a friend of mine offered some critical responses on Facebook; these responses have offered me an opportunity to try to express my original claims more clearly. My responses are below. (Excerpts from my original post are indented in plain text; my friend’sContinue reading “Political Tactics, Antifa, And Punching Nazis”
Punching Nazis In The Face And Anti-Antifa Critiques
A week or so ago, shortly after the murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, I asked on my Facebook page: “Is it OK to punch a Nazi in the face? Asking for a Virginian friend.” As might have been expected this semi-serious query sparked an interesting discussion in the course of which one of myContinue reading “Punching Nazis In The Face And Anti-Antifa Critiques”
‘Passing for Pakistani and the Two-Nation Theory’ At Three Quarks Daily
My essay ‘Passing for Pakistani and the Two-Nation Theory‘ is up at Three Quarks Daily.
Fascism And The Irrelevance Of ‘Truth’
Yesterday, a former student wrote to me, asking for clarification on something he had read in an online discussion group: We [Fascists] don’t think ideology is a problem that is resolved in such a way that truth is seated on a throne. But, in that case, does fighting for an ideology mean fighting for mereContinue reading “Fascism And The Irrelevance Of ‘Truth’”
Hannah Arendt On Our Creations’ Independent Lives
In ‘Remarks to the American Society of Christian Ethics’ (Library of Congress MSS Box 70, p. 011828)¹, Hannah Arendt notes, Each time you write something and send it out into the world and it becomes public, obviously everybody is free to do with it what he pleases, and this is as it should be.Continue reading “Hannah Arendt On Our Creations’ Independent Lives”
The Republicans Will Ride Out This Latest ‘He Can’t Survive This’ Moment
As usual, anxious liberals and American citizens all over the nation are waiting, with bated breath and a dollop of some old-fashioned American optimism, for the Great Abandonment: that crystalline moment when the Republican Party will decide that enough is enough, issue a condemnation–with teeth–of Donald Trump, begin scurrying away from his sinking ship, andContinue reading “The Republicans Will Ride Out This Latest ‘He Can’t Survive This’ Moment”
Toppling Confederate Statues Does Not ‘Erase’ The Confederacy From ‘History’
News from Baltimore and Durham suggests a long-overdue of cleaning American towns and cities of various pieces of masonry known as ‘Confederate statues’; young folks have apparently taken it upon themselves to go ahead and tear down these statues which pay homage to those who were handed a rather spectacular defeat in the American CivilContinue reading “Toppling Confederate Statues Does Not ‘Erase’ The Confederacy From ‘History’”
Critical Theory And The Supposed Post-Truth Era: The Ideological Reaction
The tools that critical theory provides enable the undermining and subversion of established structures of power–political, cultural, discursive, technical, material, governmental, architectural, scientific, moral. They expose ideological pretensions and foundations, thus making it possible to see that all that is seemingly permanent and absolute may rest on evanescence. on historical contingency and accident and luck;Continue reading “Critical Theory And The Supposed Post-Truth Era: The Ideological Reaction”
‘Conservatives, Immigrants, and the Romantic Imagination’ Up At Three Quarks Daily
My essay ‘Conservatives, Immigrants, and the Romantic Imagination‘ is up at Three Quarks Daily. The following is an abstract of sorts: American immigrants, especially the first and second generations, were sometimes reckoned a safe vote for the Republican Party’s brand of conservatism. This was not just the case with immigrants from formerly communist countries whoContinue reading “‘Conservatives, Immigrants, and the Romantic Imagination’ Up At Three Quarks Daily”
Samir Chopra 