Fantasizing the Mundane In his classic book Why Not Socialism? the Marxist philosopher G.A Cohen famously argued for a system of collective ownership on ideal grounds on the basis of the virtues of solidarity and generosity. In a utopian framework, we would dispense with private property, which merely reflects a selfish desire to accumulate resources and benefit ourselves without regard for others. [ 2,545 more words ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/17/imagine-all-the-virt…/

Good morning, Wakgut! Mind if I join you?" Roondar's tone was bright and cheerful, circumstances notwithstanding. "That is, do you mind if I share some of the fire's warmth? You see, in a sense, we are already joined. By that I mean not merely by the circumstance of our travels together, but also by the kinship of shared adventures..." he trailed off, knowing that his Big friends weren't quite as keen on gnomes' propensity for chatter as he might like. [ 1,813 more word ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/25/wakgut-vs-the-volcano/

"Do you see my babies?" she asked. It happened again: I visited with another nonagenarian, and found almost the exact same circumstances as last time, this time without the added agony of trying to sell a house in a depressed housing market. Otherwise, to the question: "And where are your children, that they may take care of you?" the answer came, "I have not heard from them in 46 years." Loneliness again. [ 551 more words ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/the-picture-of-an-old-l…/

"How many people of this senior living facility would you say are visited less than once a year by a close relative?" The problem with parables is that crafting one requires a kind of condescension, which, in turn, requires arrogance, i.e., I will deign to be teacher to coevals and equals, nay, even intellectual superiors. One must train the reader to interpret the parable, that is to say, you have to reveal a key for interpretation that is accessible to the reader so that interpretation runs along certain lines. [ 890 more words ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/the-problem-with-parabl…/

on buying friends This sad tale is a single anecdote, not composite, with a handful of details changed to create a smokescreen to serve as a shroud of charity. It struck me that I have been hearing this story repeatedly, directly and in conversation all over central Niagara County for several years. It has become a kind of mythos for the Lockport region. [ 1,115 more word ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/econ-101-have-as-many-b…/

Lloyd von Eblerhiem, last scion of House Eblerheim, rightful heir to the Stolen Fortune, vengeful servant of the One True God, and second stage initiate into the Holy Order of The Redeemer shoveled cold mud onto a a damp makeshift rampart together with his fellow captive Oswald Juventas, pirate of the Nine Coasts. The squalid primitives in custody of them insisted on erecting crude defenses at every filthy nomad camp they set. [ 1,469 more word ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/the-horrible-truth-abou…/

On cultures of poverty and social scaffolding

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/on-cultures-of-poverty-a…

Part 1 Part 2 Five Mandatory. Jon Three Three Seven Gardner was growing weary of the word. Everything now was mandatory. Exercise was mandatory. Sleep hours were mandatory. Study time was mandatory. Nutrition was mandatory. Even recreation was mandatory. It was during post-shift mandatory recreation time with the off-crew that Jeet-G again met Sarah Four One Huber. She was playing something that looked like a cross between backgammon and the game with the stones and the divot-riddled wooden board whose name he could never recall. [ 1,563 more word ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/lullaby-for-the-damned-p…

Three As he nibbled on his lab-grown food bar, Jon Three Three Seven Gardner silently recounted all he had learned in the past three "days" since he had awoken inside a plain gray box gently suffused with a pale light of indeterminate origin. He organized his thoughts into three categories: outrageous, implausible, and incomprehensible. It was outrageous, for example, that he had been abducted from the life he knew into mandatory labor in a bizarre facility that as near has he could tell, had no exits. [ 2,276 more words ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/lullaby-for-the-damned-p…

In 2004, I was 19, conservative, and a partisan for blogging in the then-raging bloggers vs journalists rivalry. The incident that would eventually end Dan Rather's career at CBS seemed to me the model of how bloggers would improve the news. A news organization is a relatively bounded thing with finite resources, even if it isn't systematically biased. With the Internet, you only needed one person anywhere in the world with the skills or alertness (or both) to catch an error, and this could be communicated to everyone. [ 1,236 more word ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/against-the-post-truth-n…

Consider the butcher. He spends a lot of time killing animals. Do those who find this morally questionable tend to call butchers personally to account? I've not heard of that—though it may happen—but I do know that many direct their energy to education of those who demand meat. Consider, say, a fireman on an old train. His job involved setting fire to a bunch of coal, thus soiling the skies. [ 390 more words ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/duplicity-and-the-ordina…

Featured image is The Courtyard of the Hospital in Arles, by Vincent van Gogh - repr from artbook, Public Domain Pluralism Adam rightfully calls our attention to the "tragic liberalism" of Jacob Levy. This style of liberalism is tragic because the legitimate values of the polity are incommensurable, plural, and inconsistently applied due to the inevitable diversity of the political body. [ 1,713 more word ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/tending-the-liberal-gard…

One Through the thinning fog of a quickly dissolving dream lurched a gentle voice modulated by the throaty growl of an intercom on the verge of dying. "Up and at 'em, sailor. Time and tide wait for no man." A pair of gritty eyelids lifted to reveal the inside of a plain gray box gently suffused with a pale light of indeterminate origin. [ 1,932 more word ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/lullaby-for-the-damned-p…

We all grow up with an image of science as a pillar of truth and nothing but truth. This ideal is so deeply embedded in us, that the very idea that scientists should take responsibility for the normative aspects of their work is anathema. Of all the things I have written here on Sweet Talk, my series on this subject… [ 1,453 more word ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/in-praise-of-partiality-…

Featured image is A Club of Gentlemen, by Joseph Highmore Against a liberalism of pre-political foundations and historical destiny, Jacob Levy has been working hard to recover a vision of liberalism that appreciates the complex patchwork of social life, is historically contingent, and accepts the existence irresolvable tensions. Though he has been influenced by Judith Shklar’s “Liberalism of Fear… [ 2,614 more words ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/jacob-levys-liberalism-o…

My friends, I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time. However, I want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about identity politics. All right, here is how I feel about identity politics: [ 345 more words ]

http://sweettalkconversation.com/…/…/if-by-identity-politics