New Horizons

The last several months have been a period of discovery. I have delved deep into Dostoevsky, I am now discovering the magic of Thomas Hardy, and I am probing the wisdom of George Eliot. I am acquiring the rudiments of a literary education. In the sphere of music, I am working my way through the … Read more

Nietzsche on bounded choice

Anyone who has read my post on Janja Lalich and her concept of bounded choice in a cult will appreciate this piercing observation by Nietzsche: 301. “STRENGTH OF CHARACTER.”-“What I have said once I will do.” – This manner of thinking is believed to indicate great strength of character. How many actions are accomplished, not … Read more

Lord Byron writing in praise of renegacy

And though I hope not unscathed to go, Who conquers me shall find a stubborn foe. The time hath been, when no harsh sound would fall From lips that now may seem imbued with gall; Nor fools nor follies tempt me to despise The meanest thing that crawl’d beneath my eyes: But now, so callous … Read more

Marx and Marxism: Two gripping books re-write the historical record

Over the past month I have read both Jonathan Sperber’s Karl Marx: A Nineteenth-Century Life and Gareth Stedman Jones’ Karl Marx: Greatness and Illusion. Both books have their strengths and weaknesses. Both do a convincing job of correcting the record on Marx and his relationship to the doctrine that bears his name. They put him … Read more

Ukrainians fight back, Trotskyists at a loss

‘Dialectics is foresight over astonishment.’-Leon Trotsky ‘The imperialist propaganda machine insists that Putin has failed in his objective, and that the Russian army’s advance has been halted by the heroic resistance of the Ukrainian army.  …Ultimately, it is the balance of forces that will determine the outcome. And that is overwhelmingly in favour of Russia. … Read more