On stupidity and the excesses of wokeness
One of the first laws of human existence, or at least of existence in class societies (determined by anti-human institutions that mold...
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- Oct 10, 2021
- 9 min
Resisting fascism (a book review)
[This review was published at H-Socialisms.] The elevation of Donald Trump onto the national political stage in 2016 provoked a heated...
- Jul 10, 2021
- 15 min
Against liberal "pluralism"
In the time of Trumpism, Michael Paul Rogin’s great book The Intellectuals and McCarthy: The Radical Specter (1967) shouldn’t be as...
- Apr 5, 2021
- 30 min
The rise of right-wing libertarianism since the 1950s
Sometimes as I read books I like to simultaneously summarize them, to facilitate the intellectual digestion. And also to post my notes...
- Sep 5, 2020
- 5 min
The commodification of education
David Noble's essay "Digital Diploma Mills," written in the 1990s, is a brilliant and still timely critique of the automation and...
- Aug 30, 2020
- 37 min
Critical remarks on academia and philosophy
I was recently skimming old notes of mine and came across the following thoughts from a two-volume book on "humanism" I wanted to write...
- Aug 27, 2020
- 21 min
The remarkable perversity of idealism
Many years ago, when I was a simple boy who thought he ought to know a lot about Hegel, I took masses of notes on his philosophy. Below...
- Aug 25, 2020
- 9 min
Thou shalt not worship intellectuals
When I read old books or articles that are totally forgotten despite being brilliant, it saddens me. Siblings of Donald Trump publish...
- Aug 21, 2020
- 9 min
I wish stupidity were less common
This is going to be a whiny, self-pitying post. Just to warn you. The question is sometimes asked, "Why are stupid people frequently so...
- Jul 30, 2020
- 16 min
The heartbreak of staggering self-consciousness
Today I came across a copy of Dave Eggers' Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and was reminded of myself in my twenties, when I was...
- Jun 8, 2020
- 7 min
Appreciative and not-so-appreciative thoughts on cultural theory
[These notes, for what they're worth, are from, respectively, 2010 and 2018.] Reading Raymond Williams’ classic Marxism and Literature...
- Jun 6, 2020
- 16 min
Rambling reflections on Camille Paglia
I've been reading Camille Paglia's collection of essays Sex, Art, and American Culture (1992). I disagree with a lot of Paglia's...
- Jul 27, 2019
- 5 min
On the fight against misogyny
As a leftist, "I wish we could all just get along." Wouldn't that be nice? Maybe it would get boring pretty quickly. But a little less...
- Jul 24, 2019
- 19 min
A little misanthropy can be a healthy thing
This is from a letter Sigmund Freud wrote to his pastor friend Oskar Pfister: I do not break my head very much about good and evil, but I...
- Jul 19, 2019
- 7 min
A plea for honesty in discussions of sex and gender
A recent article of mine, called "Political Correctness Is Getting Out of Hand," elicited some angry emails. Not from people who...
- Dec 12, 2018
- 4 min
Against "the postmodern novel"
[Here's an excerpt from a book on 'humanism' I wanted to write back in 2006. It's from a passage in which I was arguing against...
- Jul 13, 2018
- 4 min
Critical thoughts on "The Alchemist"
[Notes from 2006.] Reading The Alchemist, the novel that has sold tens of millions of copies. “To realize one’s destiny is a person’s...
- May 29, 2018
- 8 min
The importance of John Brown
[Grad-school notes...] I'm reading about John Brown--David Reynolds' John Brown, Abolitionist: The Man Who Killed Slavery, Sparked the...
- Mar 23, 2018
- 1 min
The Destruction of Reason
Just a quick note: I recently posted a long summary of and commentary on Georg Lukacs' masterpiece The Destruction of Reason, which has...
- Mar 11, 2018
- 9 min
Collectivism
[Excerpts from this book.] Collectivism comes in both noble and evil forms. In the former, the principle of the individual is paramount;...