01.13.10
Posted in Evolution, politics at 1:12 pm by nemo
I comment on You’re fired, re: James’ comment
The polarization of the Darwin debate is highly confusing and unfortunate, and deceptive, since the reality is that Darwinism was always a somewhat conservative ideology. Darwin was a success because he repackaged the idea of evolution a generation after the radical evolutionists of the post-revolutiionary era had passed. His whiggish take on evolution as a concealed economic ideology is ‘classical liberalism’ in disguise,
The current chorus of ‘liberal atheist Darwinists’ is thus misleading and delaying a paradigm change, since the political correlation throws people out of whack.
Check out William Jennings Bryan, one of the most liberal, in fact, radical, politicians of his time, and a strong critic of Darwinism, and the Social Darwinism he could still see had led to the jingoism of the onset of the first World War.
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12.17.09
Posted in Evolution, politics at 1:33 pm by nemo
The Political Gene: How Darwin’s Ideas Changed Politics
By Dennis Sewell
Reviewed by John Gray – 17 December 2009
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10.26.09
Posted in Evolution, politics at 11:47 am by nemo
Charles Darwin and modern politics
4 CommentsWritten by Lee WishingOctober 26, 9:57 AMWith his head under my kitchen sink last week, talking politics and using tools I had never seen, Keith the plumber said, “My daughter stood up in class and told her eighth grade school teacher, ‘I’ll read your assignments on Darwinism, ace your tests, but I won’t believe it!’” It’s interesting that Keith mentioned this exchange because there’s an important link between Charles Darwin and today’s national politics.
In his latest book, Living Constitution, Dying Faith: Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence, Bradley Watson describes how “social Darwinism” birthed modern-day politics, jurisprudence, and the Progressive Movement. Social Darwinism is a belief system that applies Darwinian evolution theory to political theory and action. For social Darwinists, according to Watson, “Darwin comes to be understood less as a biologist and more as a political philosopher or political scientist rejecting old modes and orders.”
For social Darwinists, the state is like an organism that is always evolving. The state must be forever in the process of change to survive and thrive. And moral-political truth is not a permanent thing. It too is always changing and “relative to one’s moment in History,” writes Watson. “Change in itself becomes the end, and it is always preferable to its opposite.”
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09.13.09
Posted in Evolution, politics at 1:53 pm by nemo
Sep 13,2009, 1:16PM
Health Care Reform, Intelligent Design, and Public Debate
By Randal Rauser
What I find most interesting, and disturbing, about the current health care debate is the way that advocates of a public option in health care are marginalized with the accusation that they harbor a “socialist” or even “communist” agenda.
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07.24.09
Posted in Evolution, politics at 6:53 pm by nemo
We have commented several times on the way Huffpost is trying to manipulate Darwinism into being a liberal subject, the David Sloan Wilson and Robert Wright farces.
Darwinism is NEVER a liberal ism, so get beyond it.
The politics of evolution
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05.21.09
Posted in In the News, politics at 12:34 pm by nemo
Obama’s Trail of Broken Promises
Morphing Dick Cheney
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
A despairing country elected a president who promised change. Americans arrived from every state to witness in bitter cold Obama’s swearing in ceremony. The mall was packed in a way that it has never been for any other president.
The people’s good will toward Obama and the expectations they had for him were sufficient for Obama to end the gratuitous wars and enact major reforms. But Obama has deserted the people for the interests. He is relying on his non-threatening demeanor and rhetoric to convince the people that change is underway.
The change that we are witnessing is in Obama, not in policies. Obama is morphing into Dick Cheney.
Obama has not been in office four months and already a book could be written about his broken promises.
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05.17.09
Posted in environment, politics at 12:07 pm by nemo
The Politics of Food
From industrial agriculture and human health to the recession’s impact on the way we eat, food and politics are not easily separated. In fact they never have been. As lines at food banks swell and restaurants close their doors what control do we have over the food we eat?
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05.10.09
Posted in 1848+, Philosophy, politics, Science & Religion, Ultra Far Left at 2:36 pm by nemo
Fish in his God Talk also takes on the question of liberalism etc, this I presume from Eagleton (whose book I have not read), and here their argument goes into postmodern garbage mode.
I think this formulation is completely off, and an attack on liberalism is egregious here. We have seen enough of what remains of degenerating Christianity to feel quite sure that whatever the problems with liberalism, they are not going to be solved by faith in the Christian religion.
In fact, liberalism, as a vehicle of freedom, was always an upgrade to religion hidden behind its secular disguise. And a repair job done on the decayed endgame of Axial Age religion which treated man as a passive object not deserving of freedom. The beginnings of a critique of that religious cast began with Protestantism and completed with the birth of liberalism. Etc… There are thousands of books on the history of liberalism. So Eagleton/Fish leave me baffled at this point, as if they were turning into postmodern neo-cons.
To be sure this is in part a leftist attack on liberalism, and its exploitations/distortions. Fair enough, but how is this going to be resolved by embracing the reactionary deceptions of Christianity and faith in god?
Similar remarks are possible on the idea of progress.
Progress is either an ideology of various elites, in which case, its critique is inevitable, or progress is a property of large-scale historical systems, in which case its reality, as the battle of the ancients and moderns made clear, is definite.
Read the rest of this entry »
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05.05.09
Posted in politics at 12:30 pm by nemo
From Hastert to Harman
The Broken Congress
By SIBEL EDMONDS
I have been known to quote long-dead men in my past writings. Whether eloquently expressed thoughts by our founding fathers, or those artfully expressed by ancient Greek thinkers, these quotes have always done a better job starting or ending my thoughts – that tend to be expressed in long winding sentences. For this piece I am going to break with tradition and start with an appropriate quote from a living current senator, John Kerry: “It’s a sad day when you have members of congress who are literally criminals go undisciplined by their colleagues. No wonder people look at Washington and know this city is broken.”
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04.14.09
Posted in politics, religion at 2:28 pm by nemo
Vatican vetoes Barack Obama’s nominees for US ambassador
by Chris McGreal
Thanks to PJG for the link.
Reposted from Dawkins site
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/14/vatican-vetoes-obama-nominees-abortion
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04.05.09
Posted in politics at 1:24 pm by nemo
Published on Saturday, April 4, 2009 by The Guardian/UK
Barack Obama’s New Offensive Against Nuclear Weapons
Radical drive among series of measures to improve security
by Ian Traynor and Patrick Wintour in Strasbourg, Ewen Macaskill in Washington
Barack Obama yesterday announced a radical drive aimed at ridding the world of nuclear weapons, as the focus of his European visit switched from financial to geopolitical security.
“In Prague, I will lay out an agenda to seek the goal of a world without nuclear weapons,” Obama said yesterday after arriving in continental Europe for the first time as president. “The spread of nuclear weapons or the theft of nuclear material could lead to the extermination of any city on the planet,” he warned, adding that suspected rogue nuclear states, such as North Korea or Iran, may only be persuaded to abandon their quests if the big nuclear powers set an example.
“We can’t reduce the threat of a nuclear weapon going off unless those that possess the most nuclear weapons, the United States and Russia, take serious steps to reduce our stockpiles,” Obama said. “So we want to pursue that vigorously in the years ahead.”
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03.15.09
Posted in politics at 1:30 pm by nemo
Published on Sunday, March 15, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
Is the Hunter Being Captured by the Game?
How the Permanent Power Structure Is Trying to Stop Obama
by Danny Schechter
Some things don’t change. Obama may be in the White House, shuffling between the safety of the center and the language of change (“changeguage?”), firm in his commitment to the doctrine of neo-prog pragmatism which all too often requires the abandonment of ideas and ideals that could offend both the right and wrong people.
He is in office, but is he in power?
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02.22.09
Posted in Critique of Evolutionary Economy, politics at 2:06 pm by nemo
Obama: Learn From Lincoln And Do The Right Thing
by Schechter, Danny
As The Economic Situation Declines, He Has To Stop Centrist Diddling
Last week, television was filled with programs marking Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. (The official holiday is February 16.) We watched reports on how the civil war erupted and was almost lost by the Union side. We were reminded of how many died and were wounded in that great, national tragedy.
We were also told how Lincoln was often despondent and forced over time to take stronger measures including the Emancipation Proclamation and the abolition of Slavery, even though, at first, he waffled, compromised, and proposed less definitive measures. Somehow, events end up driving policy and as the war got worse, the president found himself doing things he initially opposed or deflected.
Ultimately, he did move against slavery, justifying freeing the slaves at first as an economic and military blow at the Confederacy. Later he called it a moral issue. His last speech calling for voting rights for some freed slaves was the trigger that sparked racist actor, John Wilkes Booth, to become an assassin.
Today, we seem to be at the beginning of a new civil war, a great economic war with fresh details trickling out every day about how bad it is, and how bad it may get. Many banks are insolvent and companies bankrupt. Millions are out of work. No one knows what will happen. Even as the Stimulus bill was passed, no one is confident it will stem the tide of economic decline. No one.
Today, there are modern Confederates called Republicans even though, in his day, that was Lincoln’s party. Like the obstructionists of the old South, they have closed the door on compromise and are, in effect, seceding from the change agenda that the majority of the voters supported in the 2008 election. Rush Limbaugh’s statement, “I want him to fail,” speaks to and for these defenders of policies responsible for this disaster.
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02.21.09
Posted in politics at 1:45 pm by nemo
Published on Saturday, February 21, 2009 by ConsortiumNews.com
Obama’s ‘Seven Days in May’ Moment
by Robert Parry
Only one month into his presidency, Barack Obama is finding himself confronting not only George W. Bush’s left-behind crises but an array of influential enemies in the military, financial circles, the political world and the media – determined to thwart Obama’s agenda for “change.”
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Posted in 1848+, politics at 1:41 pm by nemo
Published on Saturday, February 21, 2009 by Agence France Presse
Activists ‘Shocked’ at Clinton Stance on China Rights
WASHINGTON – Amnesty International and a pro-Tibet group voiced shock Friday after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vowed not to let human rights concerns hinder cooperation with China.
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02.14.09
Posted in In the News, politics at 3:32 pm by nemo
Published on Saturday, February 14, 2009 by McClatchy Newspapers
Venezuela’s Vote Sunday Could Make or Break Hugo Chavez
by Tyler Bridges
CARACAS, Venezuela – In a vote with huge ramifications, Venezuelans will decide Sunday whether to give President Hugo Chavez the chance to remain in power indefinitely.
Hugo Chavez speaks at his closing campaign rally ahead of Sunday’s referendum. Photograph: Jorge Silva/REUTERSApproving Chavez’s proposal to scrap term limits would give fresh momentum to his socialist revolution. Defeating the measure would weaken his political legitimacy, undermining his grand ambitions at home and abroad.
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01.21.09
Posted in politics at 3:08 pm by nemo
Obama Inauguration: A New Tone. No More Fake Optimism for The People
by Naomi Wolf
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01.20.09
Posted in politics at 2:06 pm by nemo
REMARKS OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA Inaugural Address Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Washington, D.C.
My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
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11.24.08
Posted in politics at 1:58 pm by nemo
from Truthdig
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11.16.08
Posted in politics, religion at 5:05 pm by nemo
Uncertain times for US Religious Right
by BBC
From Dawkins site
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7731609.stm
As the dust settles on Washington following the Barack Obama earthquake, one group more than any other is expecting to be out in the cold.
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11.10.08
Posted in politics at 3:20 pm by nemo
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2008
1:10 PM
CONTACT: ACLU
Rachel Myers, (212) 549-2689 or 2666; media@aclu.org
ACLU Calls On Obama To Close Guantánamo On Day One Of Presidency
Group Launches Campaign Urging New Administration To Restore Fundamental Rights And Reclaim America’s Moral Leadership Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in politics at 2:39 pm by nemo
Big Election Winner: Indy Media
by Jeff Cohen
Of all the factors contributing to Obama’s victory – luck, economic crisis, Bush, Palin – a major factor is now so second-nature to us that we may overlook its transformative impact since just four years ago: the Internet and the progressive online boom.
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Posted in politics at 2:28 pm by nemo
Why McCain lost
By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
and JEFFREY ST. CLAIR
“I don’t know what more we could have done to win this election,†John McCain said in his concession speech in the Biltmore hotel in Phoenix. Actually there was a lot he could have done. He ran an awful campaign. Obama is now enveloped in an aura of inevitability, but let us raise a toast to that vital ingredient, luck. Never was there a luckier man in the timing of economic collapse, the ultimate October surprise.
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11.04.08
Posted in politics at 8:28 pm by nemo
YouTubing the Election By Ari Melber
In America’s first YouTube election, it turns out the voters were mainly in charge–not the campaigns or news organizations.
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Posted in Evolution, politics at 6:03 pm by nemo
Obama, the man who would be Roosevelt
The right says he is a socialist and un-American – which is the very thing that appeals to new voters
America has been here before. In the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, the explosion of wealth and inequality that accompanied industrialisation was justified by the doctrine of social Darwinism and the belief that unregulated markets were necessary to allow the fittest and most talented to rise to the top. Proposals to modify market outcomes using policies of redistribution and public intervention were dismissed as a misguided attempts to rearrange the natural order of life.
Horror at the hardship caused by laissez-faire led to demands for public regulation and the introduction of a progressive income tax. But it was the Great Depression of the 1930s that transformed the political landscape. With a quarter of Americans out of work, it became less plausible to equate economic hardship with personal failure. The experience of poverty was too widespread and the need for government support too urgent. The response was President Roosevelt’s New Deal of state welfare and economic intervention.
Would the election of Barack Obama pave the way for a realignment of American politics as profound as the rise of New Deal liberalism? The very fact of his election suggests that it might. There is more than a little truth to the Republican jibe that Obama doesn’t see America in the same way that they do. For obvious reasons, African-Americans have always been more resistant to the idea that economic status is a consequence of natural selection, recognising that success in the marketplace is often determined by factors of privilege and prejudice.
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Posted in physics, politics at 5:16 pm by nemo
Physics the Next President Needs to Know
Physics may be the furthest thing from the minds of the presidential candidates right now, but a solid grasp of the science behind some of the latest headlines will be critical for the winner.
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11.03.08
Posted in politics at 2:21 pm by nemo
Nowhere Man: A Farewell to Dubya, All-Time Loser in Presidential History
by Simon Schama
Read the rest of this entry »
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10.20.08
Posted in politics at 1:59 pm by nemo
Chomsky on elections
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