Tag: might makes right

4,420 words

A senior bribe-guzzling bureaucrat I knew in Delhi once broke down after dinner and a few expensive drinks paid for by my company. He was highly educated and held major responsibilities, but like every Indian bureaucrat I have known, his working life revolved around bribes, status, and sadistic pleasure.

He could justify any equipment, any design, any decision in a major project if the bribe was large enough. Before payment, he nitpicked endlessly, complaining that even “better is not good enough.” After payment, the same flaws vanished, and he praised the very thing he had been attacking moments earlier. Intelligence, in such a mind, does not serve truth. It serves rationalization. (more…)

2,985 words

Muslims blocking streets in London or Paris, Sikhs staging martial pageantry, Hindus building oversized temples and statues abroad, Indians boasting about the number of Indian CEOs in American corporations, Africans amplifying dance, ornament, and sexuality—Westerners often mistake such displays for confidence or cultural pride.

It is the opposite. (more…)

William Blake, The Ancient of Days, 1794

2,903 words

Part 14 of 14

(Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 5 here, Part 6 here, Part 7 here, Part 8 here, Part 9 here, Part 10 here, Part 11 here, Part 12 here, Part 13 here)

Editor’s Note:

I will conclude my commentary on the Gorgias with a second series of articles early in 2025. (more…)

Jan Miense Molenaer, A Quack and His Assistant (1830)

3,159 words

Part 5 of 14 (Part 1 here, Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, Part 6 here)

Setting the Stage

Socrates’ conversation with Polus deals with three important philosophical issues.

First, Socrates explains the true nature of rhetoric, which requires that he contrast it with philosophy. This discussion requires several important distinctions: soul vs. body, art vs. quackery, edification vs. corruption, and friendship vs. flattery. (more…)

148 words / 56:25

Greg Johnson did a new solo Ask Me Anything on the latest broadcast of Counter-Currents Radio, and it is now available for download and online listening. (more…)

1,200 words

One of the most common reasons people fail to communicate is that they use the same terms to mean different things. For instance, “bark” can refer to the voice of a dog or the skin of a tree, and a conversation between people who don’t know they are using the term in two different ways is the stuff of comedy. In logic, we call this error “equivocation,” meaning calling different things by the same name, and not knowing it.

The concept of “sovereignty” is often used equivocally, which causes immense confusion. (more…)