A Thinking Reed

  • Alternate universes

    Michael Lind: Suppose that in an alternate Rod Serling universe our other-dimensional twins paid for Pentagon spending on the basis of a dedicated national consumption tax, while they paid for Social Security and Medicare out of general taxation. In that case, opponents of Pentagon spending might have a field day denouncing the gap between the…

  • Eating with civility

    I imagine this will be of interest to some readers: “Civil Eats,” a site dedicated to “critical thought about sustainable agriculture and food systems as part of building economically and socially just communities.” This post, by Paul Shapiro on big ag’s counterattack against animal welfare measures is worth checking out.

  • Religious distinctivism?

    In talking about the claims made by the world’s religions, this is the familiar typology used to map the possible positions: Exclusivism: the view that only one religion is true and/or salvific. Inclusivism: the view that one religion is maximally true and/or salvific, but that adherents of other religions (or none) can potentially be saved.…

  • Friday metal – Chimaira, “Destroy and Dominate”

    A couple of weeks ago I said I was really digging the new album “The Infection” by Chimaira. Here’s the first video off that album. more about "Friday metal – Chimaira, "Destroy and…", posted with vodpod

  • Mea culpa, Radiohead

    A while back I complained that I was never able to get into Radiohead’s post-OK Computer output. My beef was that they had sacrificed songwriting for noodly, experimental electronica. Well, I decided to give ’em another shot and downloaded In Rainbows. Verdict: an amazing, surprisingly accessible synthesis of Radioheads past.

  • The other war

    Liberal Democrats in Congress, starting to get uncomfortable with President Obama’s escalation in Afghanistan: […]American troop levels and war costs in Afghanistan will soar in the coming year, and party leaders, including Representative David R. Obey of Wisconsin, the House Appropriations Committee chairman, have warned that Democrats will most likely give the administration just one…

  • Justice among the beasts

    Interesting review of a new book portraying behavior of animals that can fairly be described as moral (via). I think our resistance to seeing animals as in any way “moral” might be rooted in the Kantian legacy of modern moral philosophy. Roughly, for Kant, you’re only acting morally when you’re acting for the sake of…

  • Doubting Dawkins

    An excerpt from Keith Ward’s Why There Almost Certainly Is a God, a response to Richard Dawkins. (In Ward’s defense, he’s been debating Dawkins for years, so this isn’t cheap bandwagon jumping.) The world of philosophy, of resolute thought about the ultimate nature of things, is a very varied one, and there is no one…

  • UE->TAC

    The estimable John Schwenkler has pulled up roots and moved his “Upturned Earth” blog (along with co-blogger J.L. Wall) over to The American Conservative‘s site. Congrats to John for the move and to the American Conservative for a smart choice.

  • Wanted: a new American dream

    William Greider recommends some changes to our economic system aimed at recovering some of the intangibles that get lost in the cash nexus. His argument dovetails with some of the “happiness research” that suggests a fairly fixed point of diminishing returns on income in terms of happiness. Bill McKibben makes use of a similar line…