Journalists draft history? The public sphere, Habermas and the post-democratic society. Emmanuel Todd on the tasks ahead for advanced societies. History as a moral art that encounters the living past in an infinite conversation.
political decay
The post-democratic society is here
The post-democratic society has arrived. We need to turn away from the old priests and performers who are muttering grand concepts of democracy as a prelude to another circus performance in the decaying coliseum. We need to find our own new way in the feral cities of our distressed republics.
Sound and fury told by the American cultural “elite”
There are few funny stories to emerge from American politics over the last two months, especially during the constitutional embarrassment of the latest faux and cursed impeachment. There is, however, one story that stands out as laugh-out-loud funny, and symptomatic of the cultural decay, which has been a constant theme of this blog since its … Continue reading Sound and fury told by the American cultural “elite”
Fragments from my diaries – the year in review
Throughout the year I have kept a diary in a an A5 black notebook of 200 pages or so. I have followed this practice for quite some years now, and when I write the first entry in the notebook will give it a title. This year's notebooks I titled , "The view from Thucydides Tower" … Continue reading Fragments from my diaries – the year in review
Viral Meltdown – Year in Review
As part of my The Kaeleidoscope of 2020: Year in Review post I have updated with my reflections on the pandemic and lockdowns in this section, Viral Meltdown Viral Meltdown How could the year in review not begin with the pandemic and the virus? Since January I have followed the story of the coronavirus and … Continue reading Viral Meltdown – Year in Review
A solution to political decay: the ordinary virtues of governing well
I am reposting this reflection on the response to political decay in the midst of the constitutional crisis under way in America, which reveals dramatically the rot in America's institutions and elites. Over the next weeks I want to focus on some long-term writing projects outside the blog and so will mostly be reposting some … Continue reading A solution to political decay: the ordinary virtues of governing well
The Coming Renaissance of the Second Culture
Terrible events occur in history that devastate the cities that our minds build. The Barbarians sack Rome, and other-named disasters have similarly brought ruin to all past civilisations across time and the globe. It is hard not to see, from my crumbling Tower of Thucydides, in all the obscure runes of our time, a similar … Continue reading The Coming Renaissance of the Second Culture
Our barren, deformed political society
And if and when Trump is no longer President, all the ills of political system can no longer be blamed on Trump. For four years now – in America but also through viral spread around the world – all the ills of our deformed, barren political society have been personified in a metonymic myth: Donald … Continue reading Our barren, deformed political society
Six asides on the USA 2020 election
This long post contains my reflections on the election in America. There are six reflections: One. The folly of forecasts: my confession Two. The Presidency is determined not by broadcast anchors, but by Constitutional procedure Three. The pending legitimation crisis. Four. Our deformed, barren political society Five. The post-democratic society Six. Heaven is high and … Continue reading Six asides on the USA 2020 election
The Burning Archive 