Double standards and the trouble with secular humanism — In progressive circles, unearned privilege is forbidden. Think of Rudyard Kipling’s poem “The White Man’s Burden,” according to which white men are obliged to colonize so-called backward societies, to tame their “Sloth and heathen Folly.” Talk of that burden in the twenty-first century would be archaic rather than just politically…

Should the United States government be forcing poor countries to abide by U.S. sanctions against Russia? — Economic sanctions impose a heavy toll on people all over the world. Like we are seeing with the sanctions against Russia, consumers and businesses experience inflation in impacted industries as a result of sanctions. …

Dealing (finally) with the still pernicious effects of colonialism — The age of colonialism that began in 1492 and supposedly ended sometime in the 1960s, by which time most former colonies had become independent nations. Postcolonial philosophers look at the ongoing legacy of colonialism, in particular the ideological justifications for colonial imperialism and oppression of non-European peoples. …

The facts suggest they are corporatist fascists — When I was a ten-year-old boy living in Canada, I stumbled across a book at my Aunt Sharon’s house. It was a directory of listings for holiday cottages in the Cotswolds. I found every single one utterly beguiling. …

It’s the best when these cretins emerge and expose themselves — One of the shocking developments of the Trump era was the rehabilitation of dozens and dozens of horrific war criminal neocons. …

Forever war is the official position, and anyone not calling for carnage is a pariah — Chomsky is a giant. I don’t know if there are many intellectuals out there that can pick up his dry-cleaning. …

Last Friday, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush stopped by a Ukrainian church in Chicago. When they got there, the two former presidents delivered a bouquet of sunflowers, the country’s national flower, along with some remarks denouncing Russia’s “unjustified and unprovoked” invasion. …

The Proper Practice of International Relations — It has been 30 years in the making. Towards the end, the obvious signs and omens were all but ignored. On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a multi-prong land, sea, and air attack on Ukraine. European and US leaders have condemned the many months of the build-up of Russian forces…

Our Societies are Dying Because Truth Did — I read recently that people are selling their kidneys. Not because they want to. To feed their starving kids. Which people? It shouldn’t matter, should it? Later, I’ll tell you who. Nobody should have to do that. Stop and think about that for a second. Think about being so desperate…

They’re giving up on our real problems. — We’re tired of it. We’re tired of America getting into wars it can’t win, in order to protect some other country’s democracy. We’ve been doing this for about eleventy million years now. We always fail, and there’s a simple reason. We don’t really care. Our leaders won’t protect our own…

How Colorado’s 1864 Order to kill NativeAmericanss is being rescinded. Wonderful to see such a wrong being made right in some manner with the voiding of the 1864 order, and hopefully will help to heal wounds that go so deep that they are beyond human comprehension and nearly destroyed the…

The US ditched its heroes because it just didn’t care enough — The Taliban for the past few days have quickly advanced through Afghanistan. Over the past few days, the Taliban have captured half of the provincial capitals and the second-largest city, Kandahar. At the time of writing, they’ve entered Kabul, leading the US to send 3000 troops back into Afghanistan to…

Three generations of grossly inadequate education and our own native stupidity ensure that we’ll enjoy Vietnam after Vietnam after Vietnam — The entire world is shaking its aching head at the sheer stupidity and failure of American foreign policy. They’re also realizing that, along with the American people, they’ve been scammed. Even Germany, America’s staunchest ally and supporter in Afghanistan — the first time since World War II that German military…

I spent 600 hours listening in on the people who now run Afghanistan. It wasn’t ’til the end of my tour that I understood what they were telling me. — By Ian Fritz When people ask me what I did in Afghanistan, I tell them that I hung out in planes and listened to the Taliban. My job was to provide “threat warning” to allied forces, and so I spent most of my time trying to discern the Taliban’s plans…

Thank you for telling the truth. This really explains why young men want to come to Europe/Amerikka and stab random citizens of the 'democracies' turning their people to dust.