The politics issue
Postcard #40
Hello and welcome back to another edition of THE POSTCARD, Unregistered’s fortnightly roundup of recommendations.
Thoughts, tools, and treats
It was only a matter of time: this issue is all about politics.
Lingua secundi mandati
What do we mean when we say “racist”?
Sherman J. Clark rejects a single definition: „The goal is to develop the practical wisdom to navigate its multiple meanings and purposes: to know when precision serves and when it stifles, to recognize which definition is operative and why it matters, to discern what the speaker is trying to accomplish.“
Are we all racist?
Paul Bloom offers a pleasantly nuanced perspective.
On being a publicly engaged intellectual...
… and a mensch.
“The quantity is naturally indefinite“
A prominent patient was medically prescribed alcohol during Prohibition. No surprise that a champagne was named after him.
Noteworthy
„Passion that is not disciplined by goals is self-indulgence. The core of real political passion is obsession with outcomes: what must change, how power actually moves, what tradeoffs are unavoidable, and which tactics advance the cause rather than merely advertise our virtue. (...) To insist otherwise is to treat politics as therapy and the oppressed as props in your emotional drama. (...) Anything less, anything that prioritizes our rage over results, is an abdication of everything we claim to stand for.“
A mystery link leading into the unknown
Let’s get real...
...about free speech!
As always,
Dirk
P.S.: Feel free to send me pointers to articles, books, sites, pods, tools, and treats that could be interesting for this roundup. While I cannot promise to link them, I read and appreciate every hint.