1,236 words

Riot-wise, it’s been a peaceful summer, at least compared to last year. But since nothing has gotten better since last year, I’ve started to wonder why that is.

The economy hasn’t improved. The country just lost a twenty-year war. The people who believe that anti-black racism is a problem still cling to that delusion with passionate intensity. (more…)

Budapest’s “Shoes on the Danube” Holocaust memorial

2,027 words

There’s a scene in the 1981 film adaptation of Chaim Potok’s novel The Chosen in which our protagonists — two Jewish teenagers — run into a gang of young gentile toughs in 1940s New York. The gentile toughs proceed to beat the shit out of the two Jewish kids, all the while spewing anti-Jewish abuse. This scene left a lasting impression on me in my youth. How could people be so hateful and vicious? Why would anyone have a grudge against these kids? And what do they have against Jews anyway? Haven’t they been through enough already? (more…)

1,561 words

Mandatory Altruism.

If there’s a central defining feature of education and upbringing in the West among whites, Mandatory Altruism seizes that distinction. It’s the idea that a person’s moral worth depends upon how much he (or, more importantly, she) pines for the welfare of people unlike her. (more…)

Franz Geffels, The Relief of Vienna, 1683-1694.

2,905 words

How bad are things now? “Pretty bad” is a decent answer, though a brief one. We’re faced with daunting challenges, quite obviously, though it’s a mischaracterization to say that all is lost. This has some very practical considerations. (more…)