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July 28, 2010 |
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Editors' Essays and bloGS |
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Notable Quotable
"Education is the point at which
we decide whether we love the world enough to assume responsibility
for it and by the same token save it from ruin which, except for
renewal, except for the coming of the new and young, would be
inevitable. And education, too, is where we decide whether we love
our children enough not to expel them from our world and leave them
to their own devices, nor to strike from their hands their chance of
undertaking something new, something unforeseen by us, but to
prepare them in advance for the task of renewing a common world."
Hannah Arendt
Between Past and Future
The Crisis Papers editors, Drs. Weiner & Partridge,
are available for public speaking appearances.
About
the Crisis Papers
The American
Samizdat (Ernest Partridge)
The Editors' Internet Publications
Ernest Partridge
Bernard Weiner
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Ernest Partridge
NEW:
Property Rights and Public Accommodations.
Libertarians and other
dogmatists to the contrary notwithstanding, fundamental
rights and abstract moral precepts can and do conflict.
Accordingly, if one affirms, as both the liberals and the
libertarians affirm, that we must respect the dignity of
each individual and that each person’s rights must be
consistent with the equal rights of others, then it clearly
follows that property rights are not absolute and that the
public accommodation law of 1964 is correct.
REPRISE: A
Defense of Moral Relativism.
The relativism that I will defend denies that there are simple,
inviolable “absolute” rules of conduct. The moral relativist is
quite prepared to recognize virtuous and wicked behavior. But
this relativist insists that living a moral life is not a simple
matter. Such a life is complicated, not by an absence of moral
rules, but rather by the abundance of such rules and the
resulting conflict amongst them. (From November 8, 2005.
See also, "Privatized Hell
").
Conscience of a Progressive.
A Book in Progress
Bernard Weiner:
Potholes, Petroleum, Pashtuns: Afghanistan As a Local Issue.
What happens in the Gulf of
Mexico and South Asia affects us all locally, and vice versa. We
need to get the oil gush stopped and the mess cleaned up, we
need to change policy in Afghanistan and re- think our role in
the world. Merely maintaining the status quo is tantamount to
moral suicide.
REPRISE:
"Groundhog Day" in Asia: Unwinnable Wars.
Unfortunately, even though this piece was written under the
previous CheneyBush Administration, much of it is still timely
today, as yet again another U.S. President thinks he can pull
victory out of the jaws of defeat in Asia, and is willing to
sacrifice thousands of brave young troops in the process. (First
published June 6, 2006)
Guest Essays -- Archive
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July 28, 2010
NEW:
Ernest Partridge's Blog:
What Thomas Jefferson Didn't Say. A
viral e-mail, "'I Told You So' by Thomas Jefferson," from an
unknown regressive source, is found on closer inspection to
contain much less than meets the eye.
Bernard Weiner's Blog:
A series of encounters over the weekend emphasized the
necessity and strength of community and the principle of the
"public good," a concept that is anathema to so many
conservative Republicans. All that plus George Clooney
in "Up in the Air.
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