There’s nothing surprising about this. Many self-proclaimed progressives failed to realize that the future moved on, and they were left behind. Your note should trigger a serious debate among scholars in political studies. However, it is unlikely to happen soon, and we need to push for it. Academics no longer question fundamental issues, such as what democracy truly is, how political systems enable participation, the role of elites, or even broader topics like equality, liberty, and the concentration of property and power. Scholars tend to gather in like-minded groups that agree about everything except a few insignificant details. It’s time to revisit the fundamentals and challenge the consensus in the (so-called) democratic institutions, the legitimacy of political systems, and the possible alternatives to the totalitarian Western approach. Another key issue to address is tolerance for diversity. What is urgently needed now is a deep and radical critique of Western political systems. In other words, some real political thinking. We can find inspiration in revisiting Levi-Strauss's structuralism. It’s a pity we are retired, but is there anything we can still do?
We can say with certainty, exactly, what e.g. Peter Singer keeps telling us as far back as his 1972 seminal: "ordinary people are Evil, because of their repeated failure to act morally in situations where they can prevent suffering". Addendum: For 21 centuries now and counting.
Beautiful, Biljiana! As double standards become the poison in all the air we breathe, only people with deep integrity and intelligence manage to escape... Thank you for stressing what should be obvious, and is-- unfortunately-- well hidden. But... what should we expect? Let us look around: many Europeans are led by the nose to cheer the very decisions that impoverish and worsen their life and-- ultimately-- will lead them to war. Ignorance of history and political economy and poor critical thinking impede us to understand what militarism is all about: a bounty for the unscrupulous few and misery for the credulous many.
There’s nothing surprising about this. Many self-proclaimed progressives failed to realize that the future moved on, and they were left behind. Your note should trigger a serious debate among scholars in political studies. However, it is unlikely to happen soon, and we need to push for it. Academics no longer question fundamental issues, such as what democracy truly is, how political systems enable participation, the role of elites, or even broader topics like equality, liberty, and the concentration of property and power. Scholars tend to gather in like-minded groups that agree about everything except a few insignificant details. It’s time to revisit the fundamentals and challenge the consensus in the (so-called) democratic institutions, the legitimacy of political systems, and the possible alternatives to the totalitarian Western approach. Another key issue to address is tolerance for diversity. What is urgently needed now is a deep and radical critique of Western political systems. In other words, some real political thinking. We can find inspiration in revisiting Levi-Strauss's structuralism. It’s a pity we are retired, but is there anything we can still do?
Instead of outsourcing our thinking to the unipolar world propaganda we need critical thinking skills and triangulation of research.
We can say with certainty, exactly, what e.g. Peter Singer keeps telling us as far back as his 1972 seminal: "ordinary people are Evil, because of their repeated failure to act morally in situations where they can prevent suffering". Addendum: For 21 centuries now and counting.
Beautiful, Biljiana! As double standards become the poison in all the air we breathe, only people with deep integrity and intelligence manage to escape... Thank you for stressing what should be obvious, and is-- unfortunately-- well hidden. But... what should we expect? Let us look around: many Europeans are led by the nose to cheer the very decisions that impoverish and worsen their life and-- ultimately-- will lead them to war. Ignorance of history and political economy and poor critical thinking impede us to understand what militarism is all about: a bounty for the unscrupulous few and misery for the credulous many.