Even if we accept the right of authorities to rule, some of their particular orders can be disobeyed.
I wrote earlier about why I felt Trump is losing legitimacy. That was written with a focus on ways we can frame the thinking about when political leaders have the right to rule and we, subjects and citizens, have the duty to obey. Previously, I wrote very generally about the issues that have been chipping away at the legitimacy of his entire administration. …
Today we continue a conversation about atheism. Atheism is burdened by being an idea focused on negation — it doesn’t state what exists but rather what doesn’t. It is an unlikely foundation for community, ideology, or political activism to grow from, yet it seems to have become just that. While freethought has a deep tradition in philosophy, the direct connection between the personal rejection of the divine and social and political change are rarely investigated. …
Today we continue a conversation about atheism. Atheism is burdened by being an idea focused on negation — it doesn’t state what exists but rather what doesn’t. It is an unlikely foundation for community, ideology, or political activism to grow from, yet it seems to have become just that. While freethought has a deep tradition in philosophy, the direct connection between the personal rejection of the divine and social and political change are rarely investigated. …
On Atheism, organizing and what the goals of Atheist groups should be
Today we continue a conversation about atheism. Atheism is burdened by being an idea focused on negation — it doesn’t state what exists but rather what doesn’t. It is an unlikely foundation for community, ideology, or political activism to grow from, yet it seems to have become just that. While freethought has a deep tradition in philosophy, the direct connection between the personal rejection of the divine and social and political change are rarely investigated. …
Today we begin a conversation about atheism. Atheism is burdened by being an idea focused on negation — it doesn’t state what exists but rather what doesn’t. It is an unlikely foundation for community, ideology, or political activism to grow from, yet it seems to have become just that. While freethought has a deep tradition in philosophy, the direct connection between the personal rejection of the divine and social and political change are rarely investigated. …
The narrative of a weak president overlooks the ways we assess the duty to obey
Donald J. Trump is the world-famous, billionaire president of the United States. He is the head of the Republican Party which controls the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the US government. His signature controls the release of billions and billions of dollars. He can call in to the most watched news programs whenever he wants. He also directly communicates with millions of followers by tweet to control messaging, show support for others or announce policy. He appears at daily news conferences where he releases information about what will and will not be allowed in the coming weeks and months…
Todd: Have you ever noticed academics (especially in politics) get a lot of things wrong? Has there ever been anything that you had to correct your own thinking about?
These days I have been thinking that I may have been wrong to dismiss the immiseration thesis. Basically, as adapted from Marx, the better the economy gets in total, the worse it gets for the working class. This is meant not just as part of alienation from production and other people, but as the value of wages and ultimately the standard of living. …
Todd: Hey Greg, I figured this would be a good place for us to start. We both have a lot of training in politics and have tremendous interest in left politics so we are starting from a position of strength.
Socialism is having a moment again. In the US it is starting to seem like a litmus test — to be part of the left you need to love it, but the right is again building up anti-socialist credentials. The Bernie Sanders left certainly was the first wave to pick up the mantle and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) has really set…
The Pile On
Todd and Greg are educators, activists and lovers of fine whisky.
