Discussion

#0

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and analysis. I especially appreciate that rather than "meet the (uninformed or misguided) voters where they are", breaking through the normalization and pointing out fascistic behavior is the better approach.

Cynthia Zimmerman

Nov 15.2024

Why We Should Be Alarmed

#1

I agree with everything you said. I would add that Trump is a psychopath. He has no empathy, no love, no shame, no conscience. He has no more concen fir the fate of the world than a normal person has for the outcome of a video game. He is playing with us.

Willa Michener

Nov 18.2024

#2

Superb: incisive critical analysis, based on a solid, compréhensive grasp of thé facts, leading to compelling political conclusions. We now have only two options: either accept a fascist dictatorship or use every honorable means to résist.

John Lomax

Nov 18.2024

↓ 2

Reply

#0

Thanks, Marci

Nancy

Nov 11.2024

The Morning After

Reply

#0

The hallmark of an optimally functioning democracy is its ability or maybe even encouragement to DISSENT. In my view the protesting students are, apart from objecting to bloodbaths cloaked in “war”, authenticating our democracy.

Ingrid Nyeboe

May 19.2024

What Hannah Arendt can teach us about today’s campus demonstrations

Reply

#0

Beautiful written article

S.Nassar

Feb 05.2024

The History of Struggle in Palestine and Its Current Relevance

#1

Amazing read! One of the best works I’ve read on the topic recently. Done an amazing job summarizing 75+ years of history as best as one could. Great job!

Lama Tamara

Feb 06.2024

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Reply

#0

The situation on the ground removess all complexity. It poses a choice: One can choose to support the weak against the powerfull or the powerful against the weak. There can be no middle ground, no neutrality, since any refusal to chose implies tacit support for the powerful. So deal with it. Choose.

Stephen Zielinski

Nov 22.2023

The Democracy Seminar on the War Between Israel and Hamas

Reply

#0

This article left me 'emotionally drained'! The author has a way of presenting the problem at the border in such a clear way that, as in my case at the end of the article I really felt that 'we' -'the ethically, morally, and faith based trained citizens of whatever country we live in must cry out for a 'Global Solution to this problem. With the population soon to be 10 Billion people and basic resources such as water in short supply mass migration even from non war torn countries will overwhelm the few countries that are still willing to accept migrants. Although the author focuses in the first instance in what is happening practically in her 'back yard' she does point out the 'bigger picture' which needs to be addressed. The problem is to find 'world leaders' who are willing to sacrifice their personal political ambitions to work on this problem which is larger than anything that they have attempted up to this point. The Marshall Plan comes to mind as an example or the eradication of Polio taken on as a long term project by Rotary International. Perhaps in this context the wealthy rulers in the Near East will 'see the light' and join in this solution by helping to provide the financial resources as well as the 'geographical areas' within their borders where 'new arrivals' can settle and begin rebuilding their lives. Once again I want to Thank the author for her well documented clear presentation of what is really happening at the Polish -Bellarussian border, the reasons for it, her description of the unimaginable suffering of 'fellow humans' and as a historian making references to specific similar events in the past that were supposed not to EVER be repeated again!

George Landau, Tiburon, California, USA

Mar 13.2023

Held hostage to one’s values

Reply

#0

Amazing, Jeff. Of course you are doing this. Intervening on the side of our better angels. Good luck!

Vince Carducci

Feb 13.2023

Afghan Diary: The American University of Afghanistan and Me

#1

Thank you, an extremely interesting work indeed. I mostly enjoyed the discussion on the "politics of small things" course. i wonder how your insights can be applied to different societal and higher education contexts.

Giovanni scotto

Jul 14.2023

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Reply

#0

Amazing analysis of the last years of Brazilian Politics.

olivia barbosa

Jan 18.2023

One Week, Two Portraits of Brazil

Reply

#0

Excellent in tying together many different strands. Very illuminating. Thanks

Seyla Benhabib

Aug 06.2022

The Culture War and the Actual War

Reply

#0

Although it's true that the creation of IFE (which change it's name to INE) has improve Mexico's democracy, I think is necessary to analyze if that institution has been a guarantee for free elections. In my opinion, INE should be preserved but reformed, in the same way Mexico's democracy has been doing for the last decades.

Jacobo

Jul 22.2022

Mexico’s Ongoing History of Simulated Democracy

Reply

#0

Interesting take, particularly with the point of Petro's political pragmatism and the need to change some campaign promises in order to advance the most realistic "minimums".

Xavier M.

Jul 07.2022

The Left Poised to Govern Colombia

Reply

#0

Very powerful! Beautifully and strongly argued. Morally convincing.

Irving Leonard Markovitz

May 18.2022

On Callousness and Consistency

Reply

#0

Brillian.

Michael

May 17.2022

Global Public Religions in an Age of Crisis

#1

excellent work offering openings to constructive, positive re-imagination and re-creation of Christian social responsibility

David O'Brien

Nov 14.2022

↓ 1

Reply

#0

Excellent analysis.

Tom McGrath

Apr 26.2022

Democracy in War's Shadow

Reply

#0

I cried. The desire for a good America even with flaws is well exemplified by Thanksgiving which should continue to be celebrated.

gary gilger

Apr 11.2022

Gray Democracy

Reply

#0

This is a very well thougth through and reasoned analysis with which I agree, although like Jeff, it pains me to do so. Myron (Mike Aronoff) Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Anthropology, & Jewish Studies Rutgers University

Myron (Mike) Aronoff

Mar 17.2022

Further Thoughts on Ukrainian Heroism and its Tragic Limits

Reply

#0

great article & well written.

admiring jeff isaac's view on this

Mar 02.2022

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, The Hero We Now Need

Reply

#0

Thank you Dr Petó for exposing the insidious workings of a dictatorship in underminig academic freedom in real time. Your responding letter will be seen as an early salvo in the fight to recover Hungary from its current self-destructive direction.

Dominic Arbuthnott

Dec 11.2021

Academic Freedom Under Pressure

Reply

#0

Good essay BUT: "Not a fascist"--OK, but "not a racist"? Maybe not on a personal level. He seems to have related to people of color in his orbit without insulting and demeaning them, something Trump does pretty consistently. And he did take action to prevent anti-Moslem pogroms after 9/11. But what about ongoing voter suppression efforts? The gutting of the Voting Rights Act by his Chief Justice appointee, his alliances with the likes of Jeff Sessions, his social policies that disproportionately harmed people of color and on and on. No, don't let him off the hook for the Patriot Act, for the Iraq invasion, for torture, for the 2000 elections steal and much more. And don't let him off on racism either.

Daniel Pope

Sep 23.2021

Hearing George W. Bush in 2021

Reply

#0

I like your thesis on the threat of Republicans adopting the model of Orban and his use of "law to subvert constitutional democracy." This is the real threat, not of course crazed right-wing extremists (who may cause tragic loss of life but not overthrow the government). Despite the relevance of this Orban model, you fail to provide us with the details on what this model would look like and the obstacles to its success in the US. Trump -- with his complete disinterest in policy, weak public support and disdain for all major governmental and military institutions -- had no capacity to pursue the Orban path. Or consider that Orban is able to twist the institutions of government in Hungary, precisely because he has won election after election with significant majorities. He thus gains so-called "super majorities" that limit the power of the opposition to block his corruption of the institutions of democracy. Is that possible here?

J. Detroit III

Apr 28.2021

#1

[…] will place some obstacles in the way of what I have elsewhere called Republican efforts to “Orbanify the U.S.” It is also possible that voter mobilization efforts in 2022 and 2024 might succeed in […]

Is Biden Doing Enough to Fight Off the GOP’s Relentless Assault on Democracy? I Fear Not – Critical News Autoblog

Aug 03.2021

↓ 1

Reply

#0

[…] vurgular yazara aittir. Metin ilk kez Democracy Seminar platformunda yayımlanmıştır. Bkz. <https://publicseminar.org/essays/gender-ideology-as-pandemic/> […]

Bir Salgın Biçimi Olarak Toplumsal Cinsiyet İdeolojisi: Kriz Zamanında Toplumsal Cinsiyet Karşıtı Kampanyalar

Mar 07.2021

Gender Ideology as Pandemic

Reply

#0

[…] Click here to see the article published on the Public Seminar Website […]

Guo Wengui, Trump, and the War on Truth | NO FIGHTS，NO RIGHTS！

Mar 05.2021

Guo Wengui

Reply

#0

[…] was fascinated by a short piece for Public Seminar by William E. Scheuerman, a scholar of Carl Schmitt and his Frankfurt School critics, which […]

February Reading Recommendations - JHI Blog

Feb 26.2021

Carl Schmitt’s Comeback?

#1

[…] pure theorist of regulation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by way of Regulation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - Forbes Best

Mar 02.2021

#2

[…] pure theorist of regulation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace via Legislation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - ALONG 4 THE RUN

Mar 02.2021

#3

[…] pure theorist of legislation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by way of Regulation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - theamericangossip.com

Mar 02.2021

#4

[…] pure theorist of legislation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by Legislation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - CLEANER FLOORS BOISE

Mar 02.2021

#5

[…] pure theorist of law, state, and international legal order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing here in a short awareness piece, ostensibly dealing with the question of what political […]

Opinion – Peace through Law? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen | AlexPresents

Mar 02.2021

#6

[…] pure theorist of regulation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by Legislation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - GRAHAMDUCKER

Mar 02.2021

#7

[…] pure theorist of legislation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace via Regulation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - HOSPITALITY CAREER NETWORK

Mar 02.2021

#8

[…] pure theorist of regulation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by Legislation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - MANI WEB

Mar 02.2021

#9

[…] pure theorist of regulation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by Legislation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - FAMILY VACATION SPOTS

Mar 02.2021

#10

[…] pure theorist of legislation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by way of Regulation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - HERBALISTMANIFESTO

Mar 02.2021

#11

[…] pure theorist of regulation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by means of Legislation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - ALOHA TERRACE

Mar 02.2021

#12

[…] pure theorist of law, state, and international legal order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing here in a short awareness piece, ostensibly dealing with the question of what political […]

Opinion – Peace through Law? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen – Resortaddiction

Mar 02.2021

#13

[…] pure theorist of legislation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by means of Legislation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - AMIR NATAN

Mar 02.2021

#14

[…] pure theorist of legislation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by way of Regulation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - THE DRAGON SCOTTSDALE

Mar 02.2021

#15

[…] pure theorist of regulation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by means of Legislation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - THE PICKLED PAINT BRUSHNY

Mar 02.2021

#16

[…] pure theorist of regulation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by means of Regulation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - 9 HOME DECOR

Mar 02.2021

#17

[…] pure theorist of law, state, and international legal order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing here in a short awareness piece, ostensibly dealing with the question of what political […]

Opinion – Peace through Law? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen | MaislSenders

Mar 02.2021

#18

[…] pure theorist of regulation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by Regulation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - SANTAFE POWER WASHING

Mar 02.2021

#19

[…] pure theorist of regulation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by Regulation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - BONITASPRINGS FURNITURE REPAIR

Mar 02.2021

#20

[…] pure theorist of legislation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace via Legislation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - HOUSTON ROOFING DIRECTORY

Mar 02.2021

#21

[…] pure theorist of regulation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by means of Legislation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - MOVERS NEW JERSEY

Mar 02.2021

#22

[…] pure theorist of legislation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace by Regulation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - CARPET CLEANING WINSTON

Mar 02.2021

#23

[…] pure theorist of regulation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace via Regulation? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - BODINEBOBSLED

Mar 02.2021

#24

[…] pure theorist of regulation, state, and worldwide authorized order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing right here in a brief consciousness piece, ostensibly coping with the query of what […]

Opinion – Peace through Law? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen | News Logged

Mar 03.2021

#25

[…] pure theorist of law, state, and international legal order, so hated by the Nazi jurist Carl Schmitt—doing here in a short awareness piece, ostensibly dealing with the question of what political […]

Opinion – Peace through Law? Political Realism and Hans Kelsen - Xandoblogs

Mar 03.2021

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Reply

#0

[…] of tripartite wage bargaining, effectively outlawed strikes in the public sector, and is overall said to be one of the most employer-friendly in Europe. In 2019, the parliament also passed the infamous […]

Why “Pro-Worker Conservatives” Misrepresent Viktor Orbán’s Hungary | Mandala

Feb 22.2021

Labor Rights in the Time of Pandemic

Reply

#0

Again, well put.

CMuir

Feb 08.2021

Confronting the World Wide Threat of Right Wing Authoritarianism

Reply

#0

Thank you Elzbieta for this beautiful tribute to Vesna. She was an inspirational woman and her feminist work was extraordinary. Her passing away is a great loss and she will be missed by all of us who had the privilege to know her.

Hana Cervinkova

Jan 09.2021

Vesna Kesic

#1

I just learned by word of mouth that Vesna Kesic passed away. Thank you, Elzbieta, for sharing the tribute. I am grateful for working with Vesna as part of the human rights organization , PDHRE , in Croatia and Bosnia . Vesna added brilliance and energy to any conversation ,whether personal or carried out in the public domain. She has left her mark and she will be missed.

Kathleen Modrowski

Feb 01.2021

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Reply

#0

How many times must we turn to the 18th Brumaire and scan its pages, seeking insights into our present predicaments? As this sad-sack administration staggers toward its conclusion in the most bizarre, farcical manner possible, I wonder if we are not seeing just what Karl described in his classic account of the overthrow of democracy, but in reverse! Here a mountebank, a venal inept clown dresses himself up in the mantle of a would-be dictator. He puffs and parades before an entranced audience, ranting about the injustices committed against him, plotting revenge, and holding dear to fantasies of his next four years of rule. But as at the days of the calendar fly by toward January 6, his efforts become only more ridiculous, ineffectual and grotesque. This craven clown would strut before us as a despot but can manage only the most laughable implausible steps toward his goal. He possesses not the slightest clue nor the minimal skills necessary for a coup d'etat. Hidden behind the president's political buffoonery and the dramatic stagecraft by his many sycophants, behind this giant circus tableau with its swooning deluded masses, lies the reality of our democracy plodding in its usual decrepit but steadfast manner toward a peaceful transition of power. Trump for all his absurdity stands as a warning for the precariousness of American democracy, for the desperate need for considered attention (as offered here by Goldfarb) of the ways to mend and strengthen our democratic culture and institutions.

Rich Kaplan

Dec 21.2020

Trumpism and the Banality of Evil

#1

It does appear that you're right about this, but I am not sure the relatively happy outcome was inevitable. Especially important, as you put it, is the warning of the moment. I would love to hear more from you about this.

Jeff Goldfarb

Dec 22.2020

↓ 1

Reply

#0

[…] Teng Biao, published by Democracy Seminar on December 16, […]

Oppression, Resistance and the High-tech Totalitarianism | The New University in Exile ConsortiumThe New University in Exile Consortium

Dec 16.2020

Oppression, Resistance and High-Tech Totalitarianism

#1

[…] December 16, 2020 […]

Oppression, Resistance and the High-tech Totalitarianism | NO FIGHTS，NO RIGHTS！

Dec 17.2020

#2

[…] Xi Jinping’s Olympics, they will, simply by virtue of their presence, bestow legitimacy on a high-tech totalitarian regime that is currently engaged in a scorched-earth strategy to neutralize anyone or anything that might […]

China Change » The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Will Be a Glorification of Xi Jinping and the CCP’s Global Agenda; We Must Counter With a Diplomatic Boycott

Apr 21.2021

↓ 2

Reply

#0

[…] Aysen Candas, published by Democracy Seminar on December 8, […]

"On Repression & Resistance" | The New University in Exile ConsortiumThe New University in Exile Consortium

Dec 08.2020

On Repression and Resistance

Reply

#0

[…] coordinated by opposition leaders. In fact, the organisation of civil society in Belarus in quite horizontal. Unfortunately, similar to the regime in Syria, regime in Belarus, detains people without arrest […]

Guest: Christin Lüttich

Dec 08.2020

Strategies of Protests from Belarus

Reply

#0

[…] The Unfinished Project of Defeating Donald Trump publicseminar.org […]

"Trump and Trumpism" – Google News: The Unfinished Project of Defeating Donald Trump – publicseminar.org | Trump and Trumpism – Review Of News And Opinions - trumpandtrumpism.com

Nov 06.2020

The Unfinished Project of Defeating Donald Trump

#1

You are Marxist scum and you will not win. You are human filth. Any questions??

Peter Bartholomew

Dec 03.2020

↓ 1

Reply

#0

67 million people voting for Trump is, to this Canadian, inexplicable. I can only hope that Public Seminar will play a major role in beginning to explain it. Like the Frankfurt School trying to come to terms with Germany's enthusiasm for Hitler. Without some understanding of that single brute fact, what way forward?

Murray Reiss

Nov 06.2020

We Will Be Lucky if Biden Actually Becomes the President-Elect

#1

OMG your a Canadian. You have been led by the nose all your life. You have no idea what you are talking about. And for the record, I am Canadian/America. Don't you just love our majority rules? We have no electoral votes so the politicians don't give a shit about Alberta, Sask, NWT, and others. They go to 2 maybe 3 cites to campaign and that's it! No, you home grown Canadians have no clue what-so-ever. None. may as well debate with the dirt.

Tom

Nov 12.2020

↓ 1

Reply

#0

[…] Historical Analogies and Separated Families publicseminar.org […]

Historical Analogies and Separated Families – publicseminar.org | Johnny G. Santo's Blog

Nov 02.2020

Historical Analogies and Separated Families

Reply

#0

[…] Rahul Pandita’s text Moishe is the local ruffian from whom a young boy one day borrowed a small amount of money to buy […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life - General News

Oct 30.2020

Being Ahead of All Departures

Reply

#0

[…] is at stake in singularity? For Hans Ulrich (‘Sepp’) Gumbrecht, the epistemological commitment to singularity is bound up with a moral commitment to […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life - General News

Oct 30.2020

Instead of Comparing

Reply

#0

[…] Find the Table of Contents listing all contributions here. […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life - BEAUTY IN THE FRIDGE

Oct 29.2020

The Last Time I Saw Them- New Democracy Seminar Forum

#1

[…] Find the Table of Contents listing all contributions here. […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life - General News

Oct 30.2020

#2

[…] Find the Table of Contents listing all contributions here. […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life | Law Of Self Mastery

Nov 02.2020

#3

It is obvious, you were not mistaken dfgdlfg2131.32 https://howyoutoknowa.online/map.php

Isacevats

Feb 25.2022

↓ 3

Reply

#0

[…] are no innocent choices, and that the consequences of actions are boundless – and unforeseen. Radu Vancu invokes Paul Celan’s Wolfsbohne: Mutter, wessen Hand hab ich gedrückt, da ich mit deinen Worten […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life - The ABM Media

Oct 28.2020

Child Separation

#1

[…] any harmless selections, and that the implications of actions are boundless – and unexpected. Radu Vancu invokes Paul Celan’s Wolfsbohne: Mutter, wessen Hand hab ich gedrückt, da ich mit deinen Worten […]

On the makes use of and downsides of historic comparisons for all times - NEWS TECHNOLOGY WORLD

Oct 28.2020

#2

[…] are no innocent choices, and that the consequences of actions are boundless – and unforeseen. Radu Vancu invokes Paul Celan’s Wolfsbohne: Mutter, wessen Hand hab ich gedrückt, da ich mit deinen Worten […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life - General News

Oct 30.2020

#3

[…] are no innocent choices, and that the consequences of actions are boundless – and unforeseen. Radu Vancu invokes Paul Celan’s Wolfsbohne: Mutter, wessen Hand hab ich gedrückt, da ich mit deinen Worten […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life – Seggzi

Nov 02.2020

↓ 3

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#0

[…] Do we need this word, this comparison to the Nazi camps – art curator Vera Grant asked in our zoom discussion – in order to recognize the inhumanity at the American border […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life - The ABM Media

Oct 28.2020

‘The Uses and Disadvantages of Historical Comparisons for Life’

#1

[…] this phrase, this comparability to the Nazi camps – artwork curator Vera Grant requested in our zoom discussion – with a purpose to acknowledge the inhumanity on the American border in the present […]

On the makes use of and downsides of historic comparisons for all times - NEWS TECHNOLOGY WORLD

Oct 28.2020

#2

[…] Do we need this word, this comparison to the Nazi camps – art curator Vera Grant asked in our zoom discussion – in order to recognize the inhumanity at the American border […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life - BEAUTY IN THE FRIDGE

Oct 29.2020

#3

[…] Do we need this word, this comparison to the Nazi camps – art curator Vera Grant asked in our zoom discussion – in order to recognize the inhumanity at the American border […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life - General News

Oct 30.2020

#4

[…] Do we need this word, this comparison to the Nazi camps – art curator Vera Grant asked in our zoom discussion – in order to recognize the inhumanity at the American border […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life – Seggzi

Nov 02.2020

#5

[…] Do we need this word, this comparison to the Nazi camps – art curator Vera Grant asked in our zoom discussion – in order to recognize the inhumanity at the American border […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life | Law Of Self Mastery

Nov 02.2020

↓ 5

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#0

[…] After Trump publicseminar.org […]

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Oct 23.2020

After Trump

#1

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Oct 23.2020

#2

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Oct 23.2020

#3

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Oct 23.2020

#4

[…] After Trump publicseminar.org […]

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Oct 23.2020

#5

[…] After Trump publicseminar.org […]

"Trump and Trumpism" – Google News: After Trump – publicseminar.org | Trump and Trumpism – Review Of News And Opinions - trumpandtrumpism.com

Oct 23.2020

#6

[…] After Trump publicseminar.org […]

1. Russia from Michael_Novakhov (115 sites): "Putin personal dictatorship" – Google News: After Trump – publicseminar.org | Internet Guide USA - News Reviews - iguideusa.com

Oct 23.2020

#7

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Oct 23.2020

#8

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Oct 23.2020

#9

[…] After Trump publicseminar.org […]

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Oct 23.2020

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#0

What a shame that this intellectual felt the urge to sabotage her interesting argument by wallowing in racism. In this case, the overwhelming and shameless promotion one religious group and members thereof. Muslim scholars are regularly panned for doing the same thing.

Ray Ridgway

Oct 21.2020

On the Uses and Disadvantages of Historical Comparisons for Life

#1

Seeing how the Democrat party is crawling with anti Semites from Talib and Omar, to the Black caucus supporters of Louis Farrakhan, including One Black Congressnan who called Jews termites and a bunch of Jews in Congess that are deaf to all of this, and Obama that gave billions to Iran, the country that regujarly calls for the destruction of Israel and the US, I can only conclude that Trump Derangement Syndrome is a real disease. A large percentage of the Trump family are Jews, some orthodox. Academia permits only one viewpoint today, much like Nazi Germany. Calling Trump a Facist falls into the common practice of accusing others of that to which you are guilty. ANTIFA beats people that disagree with them to death. Their name is a joke. Ballot boxes are being burned in ultra Left California. Conservative speakers are violently attacked if they speak at a University. A person that thinks they are so right that they must stamp out opposing opininion is called a fanatic. BTW, Yale is named for a slave holder. and the Princeton school of diplomacy is named for the most racist President in US history, Woodrow Wilson.

Jeff

Oct 21.2020

#2

Transcendent article! It is beautiful today on my porch in Tennessee; the Autumn air and dropping leaves of the forest all around. Of course Raccoons came last night and overturned the garbage can and I cleaned up a mess. Humanity is like a good and bad dream -and history, like an initiation in whose end we wake to kiss ourselves. Like silk worms weaving tapestries. VOTE BIDEN! Thanks! Jim

Jim

Oct 22.2020

#3

We are part of an ongoing experiment: can the generations who don't remember the 1920s and 1930s escape the lessons of those times? How many more times will humanity need to cycle through fascism and genocide before we learn to curb ourselves of those impulses? Promises of jobs and prosperity, if only we exclude those "evil" others, is a siren song again and again across the globe, with no nation too rich and beautiful to be immune. Please God bless US voters with the wisdom to pass this test! Then please bless governments in China, India, Myanmar and elsewhere with the wisdom to embrace all their citizenry, diverse as they are, and let all nations resist the itch to go to war over failures of politicians to make sustainable national border and trade arrangements. Amen?

Doug Hirsch

Oct 22.2020

#4

Thank you for a thought provoking article. It is fear of the other that begins the dark cycle. When we fear a discussion with the other side and cannot empathize with what they are fearing that we begin to pull back, set up our defenses and grow farther apart. Social media has helped to exacerbate this effect. We fear to engage those posting views we disagree with for fear of riling them or losing friendship, but friendship is lost based upon those with strident views. We often respond with the same vehemence in return. The only way back out of this debacle is for each of us to specifically look at the opposing views and begin to understand how we can empathize with their fears and struggles and hope that by starting a conversation on that basis we can work to find compromise and solutions to both our fears and needs. We as a society are losing or have lost this ability. It is not taught in school or at home and with the decay and radicalization of religious belief, this glue of social fabric is dissolving. This is evident in our Presidential debates which are set up with questions to pit one against the other not a discussion about recognition of our differences and how the candidate can put forth policies that bridge the most gaps not just benefit those that identify with the same fears that the candidate or party are amplifying.

Laurie

Oct 24.2020

#5

I fear the end of America if students continue to be taught by these leftist socialists who will lie and say anything to destroy our society. President Trump may not be perfect, but he has done more to benefit this country in four years than has been done in the last forty. And he has done it while constantly being unjustly attacked by liberal elitists and the corrupt media.

Jim

Oct 24.2020

#6

Thank you for this powerful and edifying piece. I would like to know if you have any thoughts on the Bakhtin concept of multivoicedness and how, in addition to code-switching within the synchronic plane, it might contribute to our ability to universalize from the particular.

CMuir

Oct 28.2020

#7

I have 2 comments: 1. I have no doubt that Trump is a racist xenophobic Nazi whose criminality knows no bounds. In years to come, revelations about his lifetime of disgusting treachery will be uncovered. 2. I would rather be a human being than a wild pig.

Peter Shaw

Dec 26.2020

#8

Mr Shaw, your dramatic lack of doubt about your President’s personality is remarkable. Equally impressive is your assurance of future developments in his case. Up here in Canada, we have many people like you. They appear to obsess about the USA and how wrong it is that your President was even elected, since he lacked a clear majority of votes. Then, when it is observed to them that the current Canadian Prime Minister has never enjoyed a majority support, and in fact garnered only some 38% of that vote at best, it doesn’t seem to change their perspective. I suspect that any inconvenient facts about your impressions of President Trump, which would contradict your view, would also not lead to any change. That is the most remarkable aspect of all. I therefore conclude that you must, after all, be a wild pig, as you have stated.

Ray

Dec 26.2020

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#0

Beautifully interwoven! Finely wrought! I feel like there's a whole spin-off essay to be written, taking "sensuous netting" as its diving board.

jc-t

Oct 21.2020

On the Uses of the Palm

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#0

[…] Drakulić contributed to the latest forum of Public Seminar (Ocober 15th). Her text Boy Number 84 can be read here or opened as a […]

Boy Number 84 – new text on Public Seminar | Slavenka Drakulić

Oct 20.2020

Boy Number 84

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#0

Excellent and well written

L K

Oct 20.2020

Separation

#1

[…] a Diana Budisavljević? An Irena Senderlowa? A Harriet Tubman? A Chiune Sugihara? The person like Brett Warnke’s Mexican immigrant student Jonathan, who wanted to become an American border guard in order to save […]

On the uses and disadvantages of historical comparisons for life - General News

Oct 30.2020

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[…] Originally published in Public Seminar, September 25, 2020 […]

Restoring vs. Packing the Court: Metaphors Matter | Hunt the Devil

Sep 29.2020

Restoring vs. Packing the Court

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#0

Well put ...

CMuir

Aug 22.2020

Now Is Not the Time to Polemicize Against A Broad Anti-Trump Coalition

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#0

[…] leads me to my friend and colleague Jeff Goldfarb, whose recent piece in Public Seminar, “Pandemic Politics,” nicely explains why the ethos and temper of the Biden-Harris team is such a welcome relief, […]

The Democratic Convention Was Pretty, Pretty Good: A Brief Thought About Why – Democracy in Dark Times

Aug 21.2020

Pandemic Politics

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#0

Thank you for this. I'm thinking now about how agents in their own rule can also be accomplices in rule over others, and how people without the full enjoyment of citizenship may yet have a citizenly/political subjectivity.

Kirsten Wood

Jul 08.2020

Will We Still be American after Democracy Dies?

#1

You do a nice job weaving together many strands here! In answer to your premise, that 2020's election could seriously damage - or end - our democratic system, I think two things. First, anything could happen. But second, I often wonder that the election of 1800 did not end it, and I console myself that we have not clearly surpassed the rancor and mistrust of that time. In addition, I would love to hear you go a bit further in thinking how our study of African-American history could prepare us for such a scenario.

Gabriel Loiacono (@Loiarchives)

Jul 08.2020

#2

It does seem to me that the illusion of the past success of the enterprise relied upon actively ignoring the fact that so many were denied citizenship. Not only African Americans although clearly the chattel slavery experience is unlike any other, and reliance on this labor for economic success must be taken into account. Manifest destiny denied citizenship and recognition of the humanity of Native peoples at the origins of the state. Immigration quotas reflect notions of race at given times in our past, and are never politically neutral.The use of citizenship to privilege White male land owners permeates our history. I believe in the ideals on which our imperfect nation was founded. I have sworn owes to the Constitution that I take very seriously not only when I was on active duty but to day. I believe we cannot known forward if we do not acknowledge our troubled past and meaningful ways. It has been too easy to put that off, to say we don't have time for that right now we must unite against the clear and present danger. We are vulnerable to that danger, though, because we are not fully recognizing and reckoning with our past. It is perhaps ironic that I, an anthropologist, am talking to a historian about the importance of payong proper attention to the past, and I do not in any way mean to imply that you have not taken these aspects of the problem into account. My discipline not only rests on the inequity and colonial power that I decry, we helped to shape and maintain those structures of inequity. We are (many of us) grappling with that, so I am certainly not speaking from some perch of particular enlightenment. That said, I do not see much hope if we cannot find a way to talk with one another that does not involve shouting, and that amplifies the voices that are less audible, taking the need to actively listen to one another as a secular sacred act. This ought to require of the most powerful and articulate that we step back and listen and still our fearful need to ignore dissension in our ranks until the crisis has passed. White feminism faces this problem, frankly, as some strive to silence the voices of transwomen and women of color. We need to fight that silencing, we need to provide speaking room for the subaltern.That is what i have grown to feel the university ought to be for, and like the nation i continue to commit myself to this ideal while seeing quite clearly that it has yet to be realized.

Judith Pine

Jul 08.2020

#3

Admiral Ralph Semmes penned in "Memoirs of Service Afloat" that Democracy required a homogeneous population: that polyglot countries tended to authoritarianism. He then cited Austria and Russia, the tyrannies of the day when he wrote the book after the Civil War after distinguishing himself in the Confederate Navy. Robert E. Lee, though he joined the Confederate States based on loyalty to his State, Virginia, observed in a post-war letter to Lord Acton that the Consolidation of the States into a Vast Republic, sure to be Aggressive Abroad and Despotic at Home, is the precursor of the Ruin which befell all prior Republics. Make no mistake; we are headed for this ruin. The Founding Fathers, who, even as they reproached King George III in the Declaration of Independence, recognized him as "Head of a Civilized Nation". They also used the terms "Brethren" twice, "Kindred" and "Consanguinuity". They achieved a remarkable goal of forging a country from numerous ethnic and religious groups who had been feuding in Europe for centuries, at a time not so far from the destructive Religious Wars. But they were not so bold (or so foolish ?) as to be inclusive of "the Merciless Indian Savages" or "3/5 of all other persons". And though the Declaration chastises the King for "Exciting Domestic Insurrections", it is true the Fathers were troubled with Slavery, and strived for a "More Perfect Union"; they also wanted to "Ensure Domestic Tranquility", and a more perfect union meant the Freedmen would be handled via "The American Colonization Society" The Left is at War with Human Nature, but one can not build a Society based on lies. The Suppression of Dissent risks a vicious backlash when it fails, and Communism masked as Multicultural Democracy is destined for the ash heaps of history. The disaster about to unfold, regardless of whether an Authoritarian Showman leading the Counter-Revolution, or a feeble-minded hack not remotely capable of leading a Nation in Crisis could have been avoided - if paid heed to Bismarck that "Politics is the Art of the Possible", or Aristotle (perhaps) that "The Greatest Inequality is to make equal two things that are inherently unequal".

Jeff Richardson

Jul 09.2020

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#0

Thank you for this very informed and nuanced discussion! I hope there will be some sunshine after, respectively, 4 and 5 years of gloomy days for democracy in the US and Poland.

Delina

Jun 27.2020

Elections 2020

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#0

A powerful and convincing argument linking gender studies to progress forward toward human rights in Romania.

Janine Holc

Jun 18.2020

Gender as Proselytism

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#0

Very interesting and informative.

Carol Clampett

May 19.2020

The Soviet Roots of Democratic Crisis in Latvia

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#0

[…] week I published a response to Osita Nwanevu’s “Bipartisanship Can’t Save Us.” While supporting a […]

Thinking About Winning in November, continued – Democracy in Dark Times

May 09.2020

The Power and Limits of Partisanship in the Struggle to Defeat Trumpism

#1

The only way to destroy the Republican party is to create a new party to replace it. Otherwise, we'd end up with a one-party nation, which is not compatible with democracy. There are many Democrats who don't like Biden and would take any opportunity to vote for Sanders instead. The Democratic party should officially split in half, so that Biden and Sanders are both nominees. This would have the added benefit of not having to worry about the challenges of arranging the remaining Primaries amid COVID-19. The USA has a political system that inherently works against the chance of more than two parties. Two popular Democratic candidates, and an increasingly reviled Republican candidate, would finally put gravity on our side.

collin237

May 10.2020

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#0

[…] media, which behaves like a government mouthpiece, rather than devoting that funding to healthcare, argued Polish intellectual Sławomir Sierakowski in Public Seminar, a journal of ideas published by the […]

A Virus, a Vote - DailyChatter

May 08.2020

Populists Love the Pandemic

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#0

Precisely: optimize behavior, test, engage public and private companies, mobilize the resources to cure the curable. And this is the difference between Trump and the present Polish government. When I listen to Trump and Morawiecki in Poland (I follow both closely), they seem to come from a different planet. Morawiecki does exactly all those things, and he does them well within the constraints of Polish healthcare system. If you compare the six big countries in the EU (including for a moment UK), then the numbers of sick and deaths in Poland are one-two orders of magnitude lower than in all other countries. It is impressive even with the mitigating factors (Poland is a little bit behind with respect to timing and possibly due to TB shots the population may be more resistant).

Marek Kaminski

Apr 10.2020

In Praise of Bureaucracy

#1

Jeff, terrific article. Now why didn't I think of that old genius, Max Weber's patrimonialism is so Small comment I wouldn't label DOD as a model of what a bureaucracy. Don't they make gold-plated toilet seats for $5000?

Thomas Bernsteinof

Apr 13.2020

#2

True, but inefficiency and perhaps even a measure of corruption would be a small price to pay at this moment for universal testing and contact tracing.

Jeffrey Kopstein

Apr 14.2020

#3

Have you seen Dylan Riley's analysis of Trumpism as patrimonialism in New Left Review?

Rakesh Bhandari

May 19.2020

#4

No but I’m going to look for it now. Thanks for putting me on to it.

Jeff Kopstein

May 20.2020

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#0

Exquisite insights- great public sociology! I also find Weber's motivations for social action instructive: instrumentally rational, value rational, affective and traditional. POTUS employs only affective and usually in a negative way (bullying, fear, xenophobia). Biden et al. need all four.

Lester Kurtz

Apr 10.2020

The Expressive Antidote to the Trumpist Virus

#1

Thanks Les. Yes, Weber applies also. Trump does employ affect in excess and it is doing him in. (I hope.) Goffman's interactionist insights, I think, have real practical value. Perhaps I should follow up this piece with another that more strongly emphasizes this.

Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

Apr 11.2020

#2

[…] the lens of Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical sociology (as I looked at Biden and the Democrats in my last post), as Trump engages in expressive action to define himself and the situation of our country. Goffman […]

Donald Trump’s Daily Briefings: Personal and Political Reflections - Public Seminar

Apr 30.2020

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#0

Dear Elzbieta, I have been following your impressive work ever since our first encounter at Aca in Exile Congress here in Germany. You are so clearly right about the power of the powerless; it reminds me of the enduring thought that we, as the powerless, unknowing humans, must hold on to hope. Maybe the "hope of the hopeless" in all its complicated pejorative...and what`s more, the active freedom might still be in the making. With warmest solidarity:)

Asli Telli

Mar 03.2020

Solidarity Means Sharing In Active Freedom

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#0

No, antifa definitely are a terror group. They behave like the KKK. They attack people who they don't think falls in line. They chased a 10 yr old girl and her dad. They create mobs and jump anyone they can get their hands on. They use racial slurs. They defame people, publish their addresses, phone number, kids schools, work, and post wanted posters of them if they don't like something they said. The bring weapons, shields, they block old people with walkers crossing the street because they don't want them to go somewhere and scream at them. They threw a bottle of water on a vet in a wheelchair and then threw the bottle in his face when he was talking to someone else. They killed a horse with a plank and nail. They marched with pedophiles. These people go to people's homes at night trying to get in. They need to be stopped. Because they are putting people in danger and deserve to be shot if someone is in fear for their lives.

Madeline Mardigan

Mar 02.2020

Antifa Is Not a Terrorist Organization

#1

Antifa is absolutely a terrorist organization. I declare death to dangerous socialist identity politics ideas that are a threat to a prosperous America. Every socialist leader thinks they can outdo the previous, but ends up choking out the lives and freedoms of thriving culture. You guys are smart, PhD educated, angry as hell at your parents - taking it out on anyone who is not a victim.

Jim Richards

Jun 02.2020

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#0

Daniel, não me parece que o povo inglês está muito preocupado com o que acontece no Brasil. E nem mesmo que a classe média que faz arquitetura e mora em apartamento, vai fazer alguma revolução importante nesse país. O povo brasileiro está mais preocupado com a criminalidade que bate na sua porta, no seu ônibus, com a inflação que come o salário, com as leis trabalhistas que têm sido enfraquecidas e com a ausência dos sindicatos, que nos últimos anos se distanciaram dos interesses dos trabalhadores.

PSTU

Feb 21.2020

The Cultural Counter Revolution in Brazil

#1

I'm a (86) retired full Professor of USP, independent thinker, and I can say that what realy infected education in Brazil was the long past 25 years of corrupt socialization of schools and universities. Present government (1 year) is a reaction __I'd call it a political reaction __ to previous communization. Assertions and errors may occur, but it's too soon for definite remarks. Brazil is not for begginers. Jobim was right.

Mozart Regis Fortes Furtado

Feb 21.2020

#2

I agree with you! Leftist ideology is a plague.

Trofa

Feb 21.2020

#3

What a stupid article, promoting socialism and communism. Que lixo de texto esquerdista.

Trafo

Feb 21.2020

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#0

[…] Lynch Coup or Counter-Revolution in Bolivia? Taking a broader historical view January 8, […]

¿Golpe o contrarrevolución en #Bolivia? – MARKA Abya Yala

Jan 09.2020

Coup or Counter-Revolution in Bolivia?

#1

[…] In the meantime – we’ve got an impeachment to run! Heather Cox Richardson runs through the game of three-dimensional chess that Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell are playing right now as you are reading this post. Jeffrey C. Isaac explains The Lincoln Project, the latest effort by Never-Trumpers to dump You Know Who; and Nicolás Lynch stays on the story that everyone but us seems to have forgotten – Bolivia, and the coup that is not one. […]

#Megxit - Public Seminar

Jan 22.2020

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#0

[…] the nature of regime change in Bolivia (December 4 2019): here, Nicolás Figueroa García-Herreros, Enrique Peruzzotti, and Leonardo Avritzer offer their own analyses to broaden the […]

The Things We Promise - Public Seminar

Jan 08.2020

Authoritarian Coup or Deposed Authoritarian Leader

#1

[…] Bolivia continue to arouse sharp controversy over the ways political power can change (Arato, Peruzzotti and Avritzer). The so-called “transitional government” of Jeanine Añez claims legitimacy […]

Coup or Counter-Revolution in Bolivia? - Public Seminar

Jan 08.2020

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#0

Two stopped clocks mark the correct time twice a day each, at different times. Oy.

Felipe Pait

Jan 07.2020

Democratic Degradation and the Bolivian Coup

#1

[…] in Bolivia (December 4 2019): here, Nicolás Figueroa García-Herreros, Enrique Peruzzotti, and Leonardo Avritzer offer their own analyses to broaden the […]

The Things We Promise - Public Seminar

Jan 08.2020

#2

[…] sharp controversy over the ways political power can change (Arato, Peruzzotti and Avritzer). The so-called “transitional government” of Jeanine Añez claims legitimacy for having deposed […]

Coup or Counter-Revolution in Bolivia? - Public Seminar

Jan 08.2020

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#0

[…] Public Seminar essay about the nature of regime change in Bolivia (December 4 2019): here, Nicolás Figueroa García-Herreros, Enrique Peruzzotti, and Leonardo Avritzer offer their own analyses to broaden the […]

The Things We Promise - Public Seminar

Dec 31.2019

Reflections on Bolivia’s Coup d’État

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#0

[…] President to stop being so angry and think about hope. Polish journalist and activist Adam Michnik leads off our cluster on Democracy with his memories of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and the wave of joy that swept over […]

We Are Getting Texts from Donald Trump - Public Seminar

Dec 18.2019

30 Years Ago, A Moment of Joy and Hope

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#0

[…] as part of the campaign against Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter, has begun meddling in Romania’s internal affairs. Finally, Andrew Arato discusses a possible alternative to coup and revolution in Bolivia: a […]

Looking Uptown - Public Seminar

Dec 11.2019

Romania in 2020

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#0

[…] his son Hunter, has begun meddling in Romania’s internal affairs. Finally, Andrew Arato discusses a possible alternative to coup and revolution in Bolivia: a negotiated transition, which “holds the promise of having been tested across time and in many […]

Looking Uptown - Public Seminar

Dec 11.2019

Coup, Revolution, or Negotiated Regime Change

#1

[…] we refer to the unfortunate series of events that led to Evo Morales’s downfall as a coup? In his recent contribution to Public Seminar, Andrew Arato hesitates to concede the point. Though it is evident that Morales’s resignation took place under […]

Reflections on Bolivia’s Coup d’État - Public Seminar

Dec 24.2019

#2

[…] are strong arguments on both sides, as exemplified by Arato and Avritzer’s contributions to Public Seminar. My hunch is that the conceptual stretching […]

Authoritarian Coup or De-posed Authoritarian Leader - Public Seminar

Dec 27.2019

#3

[…] his recent article “Coup, Revolution or Negotiated Regime Change: The Case of Bolivia,” Andrew Arato responds positively to the latest political developments in La Paz. In […]

Democratic Degradation and the Bolivian Coup - Public Seminar

Dec 30.2019

#4

[…] final cluster of articles is organized around Andrew Arato’s Public Seminar essay about the nature of regime change in Bolivia (December 4 2019): here, Nicolás Figueroa García-Herreros, Enrique Peruzzotti, and Leonardo […]

The Things We Promise - Public Seminar

Jan 01.2020

#5

[…] Editorial Note: This piece is a response to a piece authored by Andrew Arato. That piece can be found here. […]

Coup or Counter-Revolution in Bolivia? - Public Seminar

Jan 08.2020

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#0

[…] Picks The Romanian 2019 Presidential Elections December 5, 2019Maria Bucur Election 2020 I Would Love to Vote for a Gay President December […]

Romania in 2020 - Public Seminar

Dec 06.2019

The Romanian 2019 Presidential Elections

#1

[…] Democracy, senior editor Maria Bucur offers us a two-part reflection on Romania where, she argues, the 2019 presidential elections signal a populism in retreat. In her second essay, however, Bucur points to an underlying corruption that has become harder to […]

Looking Uptown - Public Seminar

Dec 11.2019

#2

Fără să vreau să jignesc, nu ați menționat faptul că România a fost capturată de sekuriki. Este dezamăgitor că nu înțelegeți că Iohannis nu vă face nimic, este o marionetă a sekurikilor

Adi

Dec 14.2019

#3

[…] Bucur, Maria. 2019. ‘The Romanian 2019 presidential elections. Populism on the retreat’. Public Seminar, December 5th 2019, https://publicseminar.org/essays/the-romanian-2019-presidential-elections/ […]

Don't Come Home this Year - Allegra

Sep 09.2020

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#0

[…] Muriel Blaive continues Public Seminar’s series on the fall of the Soviet bloc in 1989 with a reflection on Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, while Utku Balaban reports on authoritarianism in […]

If It's Wednesday.... - Public Seminar

Dec 04.2019

Can Democracy Be Established Undemocratically?

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#0

The paranoid or narcissistic authoritarian style is very much in power in Brazil (as well as other places such as the Philippines). The shape of the democratic resistance here is unclear. Large sectors of the left seem less concerned with resisting tyranny than with scoring points against the center in order to return to power. And self-styled "economic liberals" support anything the government does while it promises to deliver on their "reforms".

pait

Nov 03.2019

Democrats of the World, Unite!

#1

I think a central question for liberal democracy in the political context mentioned is why it so consistently and seamlessly paves the way for authoritarianism: feature or bug? Trump, Bolsonaro, Putin, Duterte, Erdoğan, etc.: all were democratically elected, even if these elections are often manipulated in various ways (another feature or bug?). John Adams, who preferred the indefensibly awful alternative of monarchy, nevertheless offered a compelling indictment of representative democracy's fatal flaw, which has been historically verified countless times since: "Every passion and prejudice of every voter will be applied to; every flattery and menace, every trick and bribe that can be bestowed, and will be accepted, will be used; and what is horrible to think of, that candidate or that agent who has fewest scruples; who will propagate lies and slanders with most confidence and secrecy; who will wheedle, flatter and cajole; who will debauch the people by treats, feasts and diversions with the least hesitation, and bribe with the most impudent front, which can consist with hypocritical concealment, will draw in tools and worm out enemies the fastest; unsullied honour, sterling integrity, real virtue, will stand a very unequal chance. When vice, folly, impudence and knavery, have carried the election one year, they will acquire, in the course of it, fresh influence and power to succeed the next." How to crack that nut?

Mat

Nov 11.2019

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#0

The Polish opposition's highest priority is to return to Poland. They lost four years, still no programs. They cooperate against the government but the hate is not basis for politics. Grzegorz Schetyna has partially destroyed Civic Platform in his region (Lower Silesia). "Gazeta Wyborcza" is not influential. Its writers like Sadurski are unrealistic.The author misinforms, KOD was formed almost parallelly to the government. The former majority elected their constitutional judges starting legal wars.

Jerzy Pankiewicz

Oct 31.2019

Democracy in Poland?

#1

The author claims that democracy started to be dismantled in December 2015. If ~80% of the media in Poland is in German hands, wouldn't that have any impact on how people vote in elections? (see Jan 2016 article: http://ohsisi.pl/kto-wydymal-media-w-polsce-98-procent-kapitalu-mediow-w-rekach-zagranicznych/) If we want the voice of the average person to be heard, for the people (and not foreign powers, big business, etc) to decide elections, and for government to operate with the interests of the average person at heart then we have quite a number of changes to make in the world.

anon

Feb 12.2020

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#0

I'm the socialist child of two mainstream liberal democrat parents, so I understand all the ideological divisions you describe. Honestly, we all think reforming capitalism would be easier. The problem is that some of us either never believed or have completely lost faith in that project as a pathway to universal emancipation of some kind. On the other hand, even the most down to earth socialist policy proposals (as you admit) have shown that collectivism is more than just bureaucrats and breadlines. We do not want to be asked to be 'entrepreneurs of our own personal brand', to 'look out for number one', to 'pull ourselves up by our bootstraps'. We want to be allowed to believe in and work towards a society centered around human flourishing and freedom (*from, not freedom to own property). For us, it self-evident that we could do better, we could build a world that does not rely on an endless supply of human misery and exploitation in order to survive. Maybe we are idealists, maybe we're crazy, maybe we will bring down the whole house of cards, I don't know. Good luck and thanks for the effort.

ZeebobMeekrob

Mar 28.2019

On Socialism / Against Ideology

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#0

Warren talks about the middle class, Sanders about the working class. Their rhetorical choices divide them. But we will need both Sanders and Warren, and their overlapping political traditions, to effect progressive change. It is already true that the two share a few policy advisors. Warren favors a “laborist capitalism.” Let’s call the Sanders vision “social and economic democracy.” Fine - let’s do it!

David Jacobs

Mar 18.2019

Neither Debs Nor Brandeis, Or Why it is a Mistake Now to Exaggerate Differences on the Left

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#0

This essay is exactly on the mark, as unpleasant as it is to recognize its assessment of where and what the Hungarian regime is. But I wonder how much the distress caused by its present condition is due to overly optimistic expectations of what it takes to institutionalize a liberal democratic regime and how long that takes. Many of us were overly eager to annoint a large number of regimes as "democratic" after 1989 -- including Russia's. Democratic institutions and, more amorphously, a political culture hospitable to democracy, need time to crystallize. Effective assurance of civil liberties, free and truly independent media, an educational system to lay the foundations, an efficient and independent judiciary thoroughly committed to assuring the right and possibility of contestation and much else are required, And that takes time and probably more than one generation. Many intelligent, well-informed people seemed to have been caught up in the same euphoria that Francis Fukuyama expressed as "the end of history" and the victory of liberal democracy. Fukuyama recanted long ago; 30 years after the Austro-Hungarian border was opened it may be time for the rest of us to rethink whether or which of those regimes had actually become democracies. There may be a saving grace: perhaps it is that democracy was not destroyed, to be replaced by competitive authoritarianism or illiberal democracy; perhaps it is that Hungary never had an institutionalized democracy.

Martin Heisler

Mar 05.2019

Democracy in Hungary?

#1

Thank you for your comment! I'd like to think that Hungary was really a consolidated democracy for some time and its fall was to some extent the result of the interplay of many different reasons some of which were exogenous (economic crisis and the decline of the US dominance) to the Hungarian context and some others were largely contigent on poor political decisions. It is not to say that there haven't been endogenous and structural (societal, institutional and political cultural) reasons behind Hungary's current de-democratization process as well.

Szűcs Zoltán Gábor

Mar 24.2019

#2

I agree with this The EU hadn’t done enough and needs to send a more crystal clear and stern message to Hungary like “Stop going down this dark path and tone down the rhetoric!” And the people of Hungary should go out and protest and demand the resignation of the increasingly authoritarian government of Orbán. I wish to see democracy rise again in Hungary??

Sky

May 14.2019

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#0

First, I am with you; count on me to the limits of my resources and capabilities. A concern that I have had somewhat longer than the Trump era is the diffusion across countries of attacks on democracy and efforts to justify normatively the demolition of not only liberal democracy but the fruits of the Enlightenment. Putative democracies and near-democracies are joining the myriad undemocratic regimes in Africa, the Near East, and much of Asia. We may be moving toward a critical mass of such illiberal and openly autocratic regimes, with few if any countries of consequence to stop both domestic abuses and cross-border predetion. Second, like many or most correspondents of Public Seminar, my capabilities are best expressed in words, not direct action. But it is increasingly evident to me, that in addition to writing and speaking, there is a need for engaging in direct action, such as mobilizing and organizing activities, effective public relations and fund raising. Such a need was recognized by the economist, Albert O. Hirschman in Europe in the 1930s, when he prioritized action over writing. If some in Public Seminar agree with that assessment, could we consider discussing the action dimension of response to the real crisis emergency?

Martin Heisler

Feb 15.2019

Towards a World Wide Committee of Democratic Correspondence

#1

I am glad you are in. Agree we must put our bodies on the line. And think together how to do that and be effective. A key, in my judgment, is to be connected, thus this project.

Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

Feb 15.2019

#2

Very important initiative. We must stand for democracy and the principles of Illuminism, freedom and equality. You can count on me from Brazil. Afterall we are liveng the same nightmare.

Daniel T Peres

Feb 17.2019

#3

Is there a SF Bay Area contingent ? If so, I'd like to join up; if not, I'd like to help start one if there's interest. Bill Barnes

Bill Barnes

Oct 01.2019

#4

Bill Barnes, Please email me about your interest so we can explore this.

Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

Oct 26.2019

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#0

Jeff, You write: "But even without repression, a significant problem is that the radically increased capacity to come together based on common concerns has led to the creation of communities that pay attention to those who view the world similarly, and to ignore those with whom they have fundamental differences." An empirical question: Is it correct to think of the right and left communities as symmetrical? I don't whitewash the left; there is surely bullying and dogmatism on the left, God knows. But I have the impression (again, only an impression) that there is, on the left, as least a greater openness to deploying logic and evidence in order to sift through competing views and enable a sometimes rational reader to arrive at a judgment. Whereas on the Trumpian right, there is neither logic nor evidence, no respect for truth--even for greater and lesser truth, let alone unattainable ultimate truth--but rather a kind of grunting and finger-pointing. I don't look at Fox News very often, but when I do, I am not enlightened. At all. The Trumpian right is a beast of a different genus.

toddgitlin

Feb 02.2019

On Media Mess and Its Alternatives

#1

Todd, I have a similar impression and think you are observing a significant empirical difference between the left and right in America right now.Yet, especially in the academy, there is a general problem that I see also on the left. My guess is that you agree given my reading of your writings. That said, I think there is a media isolating tendency that this isn't destiny, that we can and do develop ways to overcome the tendency, with greater and lesser effect. This is one of the major challenges of our times, in my judgment, as we are opposing Trump and his colleagues around the world, and their enablers.

Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

Feb 03.2019

#2

D'ac.

toddgitlin

Feb 03.2019

#3

Not sure I understand the reference to Gilets Jaunes in your "darker side" category in your overall argument. Its seems that the media's tendency toward binary categorization is part of the problem, and you put them with Brexit and the Tea Party (a movement funded by a Billionaire). Yet the the Gilets Jaunes seem much more complex in terms of their social makeup, they are not rallying again immigrants, they have expressed redistributive principles . See today's article in the guardian: "Macron’s pro-business presidency has in effect been put on hold for more than two months and his programme to overhaul labour and the welfare state has stalled as he instead grapples to contain gilets jaunes street protests against him." Seems like effectively wielded discontent to me. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/04/emmanuel-macron-admits-failures-as-he-battles-gilets-jaunes

Noah Fischer

Feb 05.2019

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#0

Your analysis failed to note a critical component- a point of friction- which imposes formidable barrier to entry for any effort to allocate the economic pie more equitably: disruption of democratic order by the ability of elites to buy and control political power. You are aware of the comprehensive study by Gilens and Page “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens” published in 2014 in Perspectives on Politics. To summarize the conclusions of this landmark study of the relative influence of political actors and public policy: 1. “Not only do ordinary citizens not have uniquely substantial power over policy decisions, they have little or no independent influence on policy at all." 2. In cases where citizens obtained their desired policy outcome, it was in fact due to the influence of elites rather than the citizens themselves. 3. Regardless of whether a small minority or a large majority of American citizens support a policy, the probability of policy change is nearly the same (~30%). 4. A proposed policy change with low support among economically elite Americans is adopted only about 18% of the time, while a proposed change with high support is adopted about 45% of the time. 5. Business-oriented groups have almost twice the influence of mass-based groups. Economic elites- those in control of the good ship capitalism- dominate public policy outcomes and do so overwhelmingly. Ergo I would caution against putting your eggs in a political-driven mobilization. Wall Street and the Chamber of Commerce own Washington. Perhaps take a hint from the French. Hundreds of thousands of citizens have banded together in collective actions that have wreaked havoc on the roadways in the past several days. The "gilets jaunes" protest is not a labor-driven action but rather a national protest against high fuel taxes that was organized from scratch- and in short order- on social-media. Americans fear the security state and unlike the French are reluctant to flaunt the hallowed rule of [elite] law. Might conditions become so dire as to provoke poking the bear in a similar fashion, or will "resistance" continue down the pathway of hollow sloganeering and tweeting?

Little Wease

Nov 19.2018

The Crisis of Democracy is a Crisis of the Left

#1

Your analysis failed to note a critical component- a point of friction- which imposes a formidable barrier to entry for any effort to allocate the economic pie more equitably: disruption of pluralism by the ability of elites to buy political power. You are aware of the comprehensive study by Gilens and Page “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens” published in 2014 in Perspectives on Politics. To summarize the conclusions of this landmark study on the relative influence of political actors and public policy: 1. “Not only do ordinary citizens not have uniquely substantial power over policy decisions, they have little or no independent influence on policy at all." 2. In cases where citizens obtained their desired policy outcome, it was in fact due to the influence of elites rather than the citizens themselves. 3. Regardless of whether a small minority or a large majority of American citizens support a policy, the probability of policy change is nearly the same (~30%). 4. A proposed policy change with low support among economically elite Americans is adopted only about 18% of the time, while a proposed change with high support is adopted about 45% of the time. 5. Business-oriented groups have almost twice the influence of mass-based groups. Economic elites- those in control of the good ship capitalism- dominate public policy outcomes and do so overwhelmingly. Ergo I would caution against putting the eggs in a political-driven mobilization. Wall Street and the Chamber of Commerce own Washington. Perhaps take a hint from the French? Hundreds of thousands of citizens have banded together in collective actions that have wreaked havoc on the roadways in the past several days. The "gilets jaunes" protest is not a labor-driven action but rather a national protest against high fuel taxes that was organized from scratch- and in short order- on social-media. Americans fear the security state and unlike the French are reluctant to flaunt the hallowed rule of [elite] law. Might conditions become so dire as to provoke poking the bear in a similar fashion, or will "resistance" continue down the pathway of hollow sloganeering and tweeting?

Little Wease

Nov 19.2018

#2

Weasel11206 gg

losobreiro

Dec 29.2018

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#0

I loved this post and the history it smartly and soberly references. I wonder if the uprising in Egypt might have benefited from closer study of the cases in question. Alas. And Michnik's concluding line is funny and profound all at once.

Jeremy Varon

Apr 14.2014

Reflections on a Revolutionary Imaginary and Round Tables

#1

I agree Jeremy. And as it happens Elzbieta did write a piece at the height of the Arab Spring on the relevance of the Roundtables. See http://www.deliberatelyconsidered.com/2011/02/egypt-squaring-the-circle-a-view-from-poland-and-south-africa/. Perhaps I will re-post it at PS.

Jeffrey C. Goldfarb

Apr 14.2014

#2

"The path of negotiations brings many disappointments, bitterness, and a sense of injustice and unfulfillment. But it does not bring victims. Disappointed are those who are, after all, alive." Of course, this quote can justify just about any failure of the process - it's the ultimate cop out - at least we are alive.

Melvina Versant

Jun 13.2014

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