The Post-Partisan Emporium

Why Sexual Morality May be Far More Important than You Ever Thought View fullsize The Proposal by Sir Alma Tadema, 1892 Source:  Quest One winter afternoon I was relaxing with a half-dozen fellow graduate philosophy students discussing theories of law and punishment. About an hour into the discussion, it occurred to me that some moral laws might limit pleasure and enjoyment in the short term but in the long term minimize suffering and maximize human fulfillment.   A few days ago I finished studying  Sex and Culture for the second time. It is a remarkable book summarizing a lifetime of research by Oxford social anthropologist J.D. Unwin.[1] The 600+ page book is, in Unwin’s words, only a “summary” of his research—seven volumes would be required to lay it all out.[2] His writings suggest he was a rationalist, believing that science is our ultimate tool of inquiry (it appears he was not a religious man). As I went through what he found, I was repeatedly reminded of the thought I had as

Unsettled History: The Useful Abuse of the "Holocaust" ALAN SABROSKY   Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. (George Santayana) Santayana’s maxim is probably one of the most widely quoted criticisms by scholars and practitioners alike of public policy – especially foreign policy – when it goes awry. This is especially true when the result is disaster at home or defeat abroad, the latter all too often producing the former. Sometimes leaders and their countries survive, other times one or both are ruined. Few out there even today are utterly devoid of a sense of history or driven lemming-like to court disaster, although I concede ever more these days come depressingly close. All forms of government have their weak points, and autocracies in the past have a decidedly mixed record of accomplishments. But it seems clear at least in the case of the United States, that the wider the franchise, the less competent the leaders, no matter what their ideology or pa

Will 2023 Be "Just an Average Recession in an Average Year" or Will It Be Transformational? Charles Hugh Smith It shouldn't surprise us if 2023 turns out to be atypical and disruptively transformational in ways few believe possible. It seems expectations about 2023 cleave neatly into two camps:  the dominant mainstream view is that 2023 will be economically difficult due to a mild recession, but this will be nothing more than a run-of-the-mill recession. Inflation will likely moderate but remain higher than recent averages. Everything else--politics, social issues, entertainment, fashion, social media, etc.--will continue on whatever path it is currently on. In other words, 2023 will be much like any other year. The implicit assumption in the mainstream view is that historical cycles are figments of fevered imaginations. The flow of human history is entirely contingent and follows no pattern or cycle. The much smaller "outlier" camp sees the potential for a disr