WSJ Jul 16 2016
But what seems like a fact, i.e. it is "one of 3 non-Arab countries in the Middle East" is really more of an assertion, and one that tells the entire story of the problem.
There are three parts to this "fact:"
Let's break it down.
Read MoreSeems like all over the world identity politics exist for the rude thrills of identity politics. Identity is decoupled from need. And identity politics is tedious because the identities being politicked are voluntary ones, they can too easily be changed. Today we can instantly join digital ranks and summarily denounce Cecil Rhodes. There is a mismatch because Cecil Rhodes had way fewer options than we do today. So if we judge Cecil Rhodes, shouldn't we simply begin our interrogation considering he very well may have needed to be such and such a person, with such and such constraints, for he lived in such and such a time? Is that not a practical question? There are universal virtues, maybe, but surely identity changes over time.
You can't help but read Yiddishkeit and get a notion that everything about Yiddish was in a word practical.
Yes, I too like practical identity. I'm always biased to valuing higher positive actions
Read MoreYou could get a darn good idea of ISIS from what it is NOT, but then again, as my 10th grade English teacher, Mr. Smith always said- "if your thesis statement is against something, there are still an infinite number of things you could be for." Well, there isn't that much wiggle room for ISIS, given the pigeonhole it has carved for itself- I can't imagine they are donating much of the seized gold taels to Orbis, or Breast Cancer Awareness, or the Girl Scouts of Lebanon.
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