Freedom of Speech

Free speech is under fire these days. So it was good to see an impressive group of academics and public intellectuals publish an open letter in defense of free speech the other day. They come from a range of fields and political viewpoints, more on the left than on the right, but we especially need folks on the left to speak up in defense of free speech at present. The letter, which is very short, was published in Harper's. You can--and should--read it here.

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E-mail Wit on a Lazy Sunday Afternoon

It seems as though practically every business where I've ever bought anything in the past decade sends me e-mails about their products, specials, deal-of-the-week, etc. Normally I delete them immediately, without a second glance. But one this afternoon made me hesitate. I received a "Walgreens Weekly Ad" e-mail. Its subject line read as follows: "We can't stop lowering prices." So instead of hitting "delete," I sent a quick reply: "In that case, I think I'll wait and shop next week." I have no idea whether or not that reply will go to a real e-mail address and be read by an actual human being. But I hope so.

Non capisco!

About once a week I get an e-mail from something called the Italian Cultural Institute in New York. I don't know why. I know nothing about them and have no idea how I got on their mailing list. But I generally take a quick look at the e-mail, because every now and then I see something interesting. The other day I got one of these and saw what appeared to be a potentially interesting lecture today. It was by a professor named Stefano Jossa, currently at Royal Holloway, the University of London. He was going to be speaking on his new book, in Italian, but the title of which in English would be The Most Beautiful in the World: Why Love the Italian Language . It sounded intriguing, it was free, all you had to do was register and get a Zoom link. So I did. It turned out that the lecture was actually being sponsored not by the Italian Cultural Institute in New York, but rather by the one in Montreal. But who cares, right? As long a...

Pandemic and Globalization: Some Thoughts

I have been promising to jot down a few thoughts on the coronavirus pandemic and globalization. A few days ago I read an essay by John Gray, arguing that the pandemic marks a turning point, one that will prompt a move away from liberalism, free trade, and globalization. Gray is a thoughtful and interesting writer, and you can find his essay here -- although I don't think it is particularly compelling. Gray's analysis fits into a broader political narrative that has already been gaining traction over the past few years: that we are seeing a retreat from liberal politics and from the globalized world order as countries move increasingly in nationalist, populist, and even authoritarian directions. National populism (which can but need not be authoritarian) is a real phenomenon, in the USA, across the West, and to some extent even globally. We see it in the election of Donald Trump, in Brexit, and in the rise of various national populist parties in the democr...

Plague Time

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