Category: Society

The populist manifesto: Why policy trumps rhetoric and how Ye might synthesise Bernie and Trump’s platforms into one unity campaign for the American working class

‘I could build a new Rome in one day.’ Ye, ‘Clique’, from Kanye West Presents, Good Music - Cruel Summer As the title of this article suggests, I want to propose a populist manifesto — a manifesto to transfer power from the wealthy and powerful back to the people of the world. This does not … Continue reading The populist manifesto: Why policy trumps rhetoric and how Ye might synthesise Bernie and Trump’s platforms into one unity campaign for the American working class →

Donda, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, and the sonic revolution of the 2020s

Music since the year 2000 has gone through three phases, which can be bracketed by the most prominent popular song at the turn of each decade. 1. … Baby One More Time by Britney Spears (1999) 2. Bad Romance by Lady Gaga (2009) 3. bad guy by Billie Eilish (2019) While the first and second … Continue reading Donda, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers, and the sonic revolution of the 2020s →

Peace for all time: The enduring insights of Thomas Hobbes

Originally published on 24 September 2022. Seventeenth-century political theorist Thomas Hobbes has a paradoxical attitude to power. On the one hand, he thinks that 'the pursuit of power, after power' is the root and stem of 'Warre', of 'every man, against every man', leaving the 'life of man, solitary, poore, nasty, brutish, and short'. But … Continue reading Peace for all time: The enduring insights of Thomas Hobbes →

Chaos: The energy, evolution, and end of capitalism

The economist Joseph Schumpeter termed the key to technological development under capitalism ‘the gales of creative destruction.’ For Schumpeter, the state plays a role in this market dynamism. This is because states compete with each other very much like corporations and classes do. All competition has the potential for conflict; and all conflict, for war … Continue reading Chaos: The energy, evolution, and end of capitalism →

Evangelion, Ye, and the tragedy of true artistry in modernity

After watching the Japanese manga Evangelion TV series ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’, the End of Evangelion film and the Rebuild saga of remake films — directed by the visionary Hideaki Anno — I perused YouTube videos blending Evangelion snippets with the music of Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West. One comment struck me as … Continue reading Evangelion, Ye, and the tragedy of true artistry in modernity →

‘This house regrets the Obama years.’ Draft speech from my university years

A draft speech for a Cambridge Union debate a while back. Thank you Mr./Mme. Speaker.  Perhaps the favourite book of my teenage years was Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father, given to me as it happens by my own father.  I, and I think I speak for many in this room, think hope is an … Continue reading ‘This house regrets the Obama years.’ Draft speech from my university years →

Evangelion ends: Aristotle, Arendt, and angels

The old is dying and the new cannot yet be born. This is the time of monsters. Antonio Gramsci (paraphrase) To defeat darkness, embrace it. Edmund Wilson ‘You’re just desperate.’ ‘I’m terrified.’ Dialogue from Neon Genesis Evangelion Pain is an inevitable consequence of truth. You have to learn to withstand it. In the end, humans … Continue reading Evangelion ends: Aristotle, Arendt, and angels →

‘First Time’ and the albums

You were swift with your blade You lacked hesitation Your eyes were like oceans I fell till I drowned - First Time by Edmund Wilson As you may know, dear reader, my views on history and politics as expressed on this blog converge in a strange location or destination: music. And it is music that … Continue reading ‘First Time’ and the albums →