If you want another reason to be pessimistic about Greece, take a look at the shameful wrangling over cabinet post during an emergency. Do you think these petty, disgusting people will be able to stick to reforms in the face of resistance from entrenched interests and the loathing of a . . . . Continue Reading »
Yesterday’s election result in Greece was about the best that could have been realistically hoped for. And that might be the most depressing thing. Let’s recap: Greece is broke. Greece’s government needs loans to pay salaries and pensions, but only a lunatic . . . . Continue Reading »
Quick summary of Andreas Papandreou. He was the son of Greek Prime Minster George Papandreou. He was the founder of Greece’s socialist PASOK party that dominated Greek politics from 1981 until last year. He was Prime Minister of Greece from 1981-1989 and 1990-1993. The . . . . Continue Reading »
I agree with Peter Lawler that the election is shaping up to be very close if one projects from present circumstances (with only modest changes up or down to unemployment and job creation numbers.) The most likely event that could crack open the election would be a crisis in . . . . Continue Reading »
Back, some thirty years ago, as a diversion from my college studies, I would sit on the floor of the stacks at Columbia University’s Butler Library and read old magazines, among those, The New Yorker . My father is still a devoted reader and gave a gift subscription this year. . . . . Continue Reading »
I’ve been tardy because I’ve been lazy, 1. Peter Lawler is right that the public perception of the recall procedure as being inappropriate for normal political disputes helped Walker win. 2. But Walker’s policies were also popular. The least popular . . . . Continue Reading »
Rawls ( Political Liberalism: Expanded Edition (Columbia Classics in Philosophy) ) admits that the ideal of public reason doesn’t pertain in “private” settings like churches and universities. But, he insists, it “does hold for citizens when they engage in political advocacy . . . . Continue Reading »
1. Ross Douthat writes that Walker’s victory in the Wisconsin recall election indicated that “November 2012 will just be one battle in a longer war, and the outcome in Wisconsin suggests that the edge in that war currently (and to some extent unexpectedly, given the demographic . . . . Continue Reading »
Karuna Mantena ( Alibis of Empire: Henry Maine and the Ends of Liberal Imperialism , pp. 68-70) describes the rise of modern social theory (in line with Arendt, Strauss, and Wolin) as the displacement of politics by society. He disagrees with Strauss and others because he argues that the politics . . . . Continue Reading »
Just a few more observations on Greek politics so please bear with me, 1. France’s Socialist Finance Minister has warned Greece that if Greece’s government goes back on its agreements to its European lenders, then Greece is looking at expulsion from the Eurozone. This is a . . . . Continue Reading »
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