A strange thing happened this week. And while it garnered attention by many for what has become known as the GOP’s characteristic lack of empathy, there was something even more strange operating at a different level. Senate Republicans voted down the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a treaty with roots [...]
All posts in category Smarmy Politics?
Paranoia and Conquest
Posted by admin on December 7, 2012
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2012/12/paranoia-and-conquest/
Perpetual Empire
I have been on vacation for the past several weeks, enjoying the hospitality and climate in the southeast Mediterranean. As a vacation destination, it is in many ways ideal: fresh food, a beautiful environment, friendly people and a gentle pace. Like most tourists, I made a lot of photographs. Mostly they are iconic images that [...]
Posted by admin on September 8, 2012
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2012/09/perpetual-empire/
The Nation as an Idea
But America is more than just a place … it’s an idea. It’s the only country founded on an idea. Our rights come from nature and God, not government. We promise equal opportunity, not equal outcomes. After Paul Ryan’s remarks on Saturday following his selection as the vice-presidential candidate on the GOP ticket, journalist Chris [...]
Posted by admin on August 13, 2012
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2012/08/the-nation-as-an-idea/
Week-Old Bread
When a United States Navy EP-3 Aries surveillance plane made an emergency landing on Hainan island in the People’s Republic of China on April 1, 2001, most casual observers were stunned. The official line was that the collision between the EP-3 and a Chinese fighter jet sent to intercept it occurred over international waters, making [...]
Posted by admin on July 30, 2012
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2012/07/week-old-bread/
A Thing of Beauty
I am currently reading Andrew Bacevich’s The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism (a review will follow.) I want to share the following quote, because it illustrates a beautiful symmetry that compels me to study history. It is a symmetry willfully overlooked in politics. Postwar foreign policy derived its legitimacy from a widely [...]
Posted by admin on June 26, 2012
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2012/06/a-thing-of-beauty/
Twilight of the Elites
Chris Hayes – Washington editor of The Nation magazine and host of MSNBC’s Up with Chris Hayes – has just completed his first book on the dysfunction of United States’ élite and prescriptions for social change. Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy asserts that our society’s obsession with the notion of meritocracy has led [...]
Posted by admin on June 21, 2012
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2012/06/twilight-of-the-elites/
Thank You Sarah Palin?
Last month I wrote about my concern that the American right would focus the machinery of imperialism on domestic politics. Yesterday, Sarah Palin – the half-term governor of Alaska and vice-presidential disaster – provided an excellent example of how that is manifest. In just under 70 seconds Palin portrayed the sitting President of the United [...]
Posted by admin on May 23, 2012
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2012/05/thank-you-sarah-palin/
The Future of Imperialism
I have been thinking quite a bit about imperialism lately, and decided to put a few thoughts “on paper.” Mostly, I am concerned about the future of the enterprise, for it appears to be morphing into something even less attractive than before. To begin, let us agree that America is an imperial power. If our [...]
Posted by admin on April 15, 2012
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2012/04/the-future-of-imperialism/
But War is not Clean
A terrible war atrocity occurred in the Panjwai district of Afghanistan this weekend, when a U.S. Army sergeant went door-to-door killing at least 16 civilians. But it’s actually the public’s response to the news that surprises me the most, and the cause for that speaks poorly of our chance to live in a peaceful world. [...]
Posted by admin on March 12, 2012
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2012/03/but-war-is-not-clean/
Tactical Problems with #Occupy
When Occupy Wall St. made its splash last fall, a lot of pundits were comparing it to the Arab Spring based on its diffuse structure, strength from palpable unrest, and embrace of social media. Although the group made it clear they did not have a political agenda, their “We are the 99%” motto reflected a [...]
Posted by admin on March 3, 2012
http://www.born2synthesize.com/2012/03/tactical-problems-with-occupy/