A tragedy pushed to the shadows: the truth about China’s Cultural Revolution

By Tania Branigan In an age of increased repression, few air their concerns. But as the party congress opened in October, a lonely figure protested in Beijing: among the demands on his banners was “Reform, not the Cultural Revolution”. That call was taken up by others at the remarkable protests against the zero-Covid policy that swept through cities weeks later.… Read More A tragedy pushed to the shadows: the truth about China’s Cultural Revolution

19th January 2023 Dilip

A philosophy professor’s final class

A tribute to Richard Bernstein, 1932-2022 “All academic thinking, whether right, left or middle, is conservative in the extreme,” Arendt had written to him. “Nobody wants to hear what he hasn’t heard before.” Recalling these words, Bernstein leaned toward his laptop camera, growing bigger on our screens. We must all fight off this tendency to… Read More A philosophy professor’s final class

18th January 2023 Dilip

So you want to be a history professor

NB: In India nowadays there’s a separate problem. You need to be in agreement with the world view of the ruling dispensation – whether or not you know any history. DS David A. Bell A historian friend once told me that when he went on the job market, he put in three applications and received… Read More So you want to be a history professor

18th January 2023 Dilip

Imperial Dominance Disguised as Democratic Deterrence

The Pentagon’s National Defense Strategy Drives Record Military Spending By William J. Astore (Tomdispatch.com) – Imagine this scenario for a moment: a “great power” watches another major power fight a war in a nearby nation for 10 years before its army limps home defeated and, not so very long after, that country implodes. A little over a decade later, by… Read More Imperial Dominance Disguised as Democratic Deterrence

16th January 202316th January 2023 Dilip

Rabindranath Tagore’s essay on the cult of the nation

The Cult of the Nation is the professionalism of the people. This cult is becoming their greatest danger, because it is bringing them enormous success, making them impatient of the claims of higher ideals. The greater the amount of success, the stronger are the conflicts of interest and jealousy and hatred which are aroused in men’s… Read More Rabindranath Tagore’s essay on the cult of the nation

14th January 2023 Dilip

Hazrat Inayat Khan on Religious Unity and Uniformity

First posted June 05, 2013 ‘All through the ages, the different religions, which have been given to man for his spiritual development with the sole idea of unity, have gradually become a kind of community or nationality. Many people who belong to a Church accept its dogmas, claim a certain name for their religion, and… Read More Hazrat Inayat Khan on Religious Unity and Uniformity

13th January 202313th January 2023 Dilip

‘Truth is one of our rights’: victims of Indonesia’s bloody past want more than regret from their president

Rebecca Root The violence began when the military set out to quash what it said was a communist coup sparked by the deaths of six generals. This has since been identified as a government pretext to launch a large-scale pursuit of communists and sympathisers. About 500,000 people were murdered in six months and 1 million… Read More ‘Truth is one of our rights’: victims of Indonesia’s bloody past want more than regret from their president

13th January 202313th January 2023 Dilip

The Diaries of Franz Kafka

By Becca Rothfeld Literature usually reaches us in its finished form, when it has already ossified into irrevocability. By the time a book is bound and printed, it is easy to forget that the words were once in motion. Franz Kafka’s fitful fiction provides a reminder. Most of his work was published posthumously, through the efforts of… Read More The Diaries of Franz Kafka

11th January 202311th January 2023 Dilip

‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ in Golden Globes race

Kevin Tschierse It’s the first non-English language adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s anti-war novel “All Quiet on the Western Front.” German director Edward Berger has taken it upon himself to venture a German interpretation that launched internationally on Netflix in October 2022. Some critics have praised the remake as a successful anti-war drama, while others criticize the… Read More ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ in Golden Globes race

11th January 2023 Dilip

Transition Theory

Tim Barker A Brief History of Commercial Capitalism by Jairus Banaji (2020) Capitalism is either eternal or it isn’t. There are people who defend the first view, or something close to it – the 2014 multivolume Cambridge History of Capitalism opens in Babylonia, circa 1000 BCE – but it is much more plausible that capitalism, like most… Read More Transition Theory

11th January 20239th January 2023 Dilip

After the truth-shower

Philosophy, history, literature, current affairs, and other stuff. Posted by Dilip Simeon

Tag: History