The propaganda war isn’t over what we’re being exposed to. It’s over what we’re exposing ourselves to. So there’s a strong element of complicity in what we believe, be it about global warming, vaccination safety, Gaza, of what have you. Those on the left are fully capable of checking out Fox News. But they won’t. And if they do it’ll only be to mock. And those on the right are fully capable of checking out MSNBC. But they won’t. And if they do it’ll only be to mock. Each of us belongs to a base. And the only way we can switch from one to the other is if we go on some kind of vacation for a couple of years, forget who we were, and then become not reborn but born as if for the first time.
This is why, if we’re to be capable of independent thought, we need periods of non-partisanship. So, for example, the longer the interval between elections, the greater the probability of a change in government. Not because, as the talking heads would have it, people want a change for change sake, but because most of us are one issue voters, be it about immigration or abortion or climate change or Gaza … And so there has to be time enough for our particular grievance to emerge. Biden couldn’t plug the border. Or he backed the wrong horse in Palestine. Or …
And it’s always what the party in power did wrong that trumps whatever the alternative will do worse. Biden let the Russians take a third of Ukraine. Trump will invite them to take it all. Biden gave the IDF the means to kill or maim 100,000 Palestinians. Trump will tell the Israelis to clear the Strip for seaside retirement condos.
Government is forcibly imposing the will of some on others. If it isn’t it isn’t government. It’s something else. Entreaty perhaps. So to say that one government is better than another requires an indexical. Better for whom? The problem is that if I allow myself to be an x-greater-than-one issue voter, each of the alternatives gets mixed reviews. Biden will do what he can to protect women’s reproductive freedom, but he has Palestinian blood on his hands. So it’s a good thing I can’t vote, or wouldn’t if I could. Because if I could, would, and did, I couldn’t answer to any of my friends for my complicity with at least one abject evil.
Categories: Everything You Wanted to Know About What's Going On in the World But Were Afraid to Ask, Social and Political Philosophy
Paulosophical Vimplications 
Hello Professor,
I’m not sure if you remember me – you used to call me Swanny. I go by Landry now. My hallmark was being too sick to attend your class, and showing up after hours to collect my marks.
My husband and I talk about your classes often, especially with the current political climate, and were mentioning how we would have loved to have sat in on Philosophy of War this year.
Your In Defense of Terrorism was one of the first things I reread after October 7th, and I’ve been wondering what you’ve had to say about this whole mess since.
We went to the University website for a nostalgia scroll through the faculty and noticed you missing. Oh, he’s finally retired to Italy! The dear man!
A quick Google and a 2hr Widdowson video later….happy belated uh…firement, I suppose?
A quick update on us. We bought a house in Lethbridge, I took your advice and popped out two kids, and neither of us have made use of our degree.
I’ve just subscribed. Theran and Noriko are the names you are looking for. Send us an email if you want to catch up and we will go from there.
If not, know that we give you that goddamn A+ you never gave us.
You taught me more about life, politics, and morals than any one of the teachers or professors I ever met in academics.
Turns out, this was the most useful non-useful degree we could have ever chosen. It continues to shape us fundamentally as parents, and as voting members of our community.
So thank you. For everything you have done, and especially for that marshmellow heart that cares about the students they forced you to abandon, and for all of them you helped, like me, over the years.
Much love to you and your wife, Professor. All the best as this crazy world spins on.
Noriko Landry
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