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The following books by Robert Paul Wolff are available on Amazon.com as e-books: KANT'S THEORY OF MENTAL ACTIVITY, THE AUTONOMY OF REASON, UNDERSTANDING MARX, UNDERSTANDING RAWLS, THE POVERTY OF LIBERALISM, A LIFE IN THE ACADEMY, MONEYBAGS MUST BE SO LUCKY, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE USE OF FORMAL METHODS IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY.
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NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: LECTURES ON KANT'S CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON. To view the lectures, go to YouTube and search for "Robert Paul Wolff Kant." There they will be.

NOW AVAILABLE ON YOUTUBE: LECTURES ON THE THOUGHT OF KARL MARX. To view the lectures, go to YouTube and search for Robert Paul Wolff Marx."





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Saturday, June 25, 2022

WE LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES, TO QUOTE THE OLD CHINESE CURSE

I was so angry last night that I lay in bed with clenched fists snapping at our cat. This is now playing out pretty much as I anticipated. There is more than three months before early voting begins so one might imagine that the outrage will die down and people’s attention will turn to other things, like the price of gasoline. But there are now going to be an endless series of attacks in the states on abortion providers, women seeking reproductive health care, blue states offering a haven for those women seeking abortions, But and so on. Every one of those stories will generate enormous attention and trigger great anger. It is even possible that this will produce an outpouring of young people to the polls. Biden’s instinct pretty clearly is to go small on this issue but I do not think the voters are going to allow him to do that.

 

Meanwhile, astonishingly, the Justice Department is going after high officials in the former administration who played a role in stage managing the production of slates of phony electors, and I have begun to think that they are actually aiming to kill the King – or, more precisely, the former king. This may just possibly be a fundamental turning point in American politics and barring some unforeseen accident, I will actually live to see it play out.

 

Before I forget, let me thank the anonymous commentator who explained to me that what I saw on my shower curtain was mold, not dirt. I realize this is not quite as important as the future of democracy in America, but it really warms my heart to gain clarity on this small issue.

8 comments:

Marc Susselman said...

All I can say is, your poor cat.

charles Lamana said...

I stand with Marc Susselman, concerning your cat. He/she is innocent as you know.

s. wallerstein said...

You seem to believe that gas prices are a minor issue.

However, what set off the 2018 gilets jaunes protests in France? A tax on gasoline which pissed off thousands of working class and middle class drivers.

What set off the current protest movement in Ecuador which has left at least 4 demonstrators dead due to police repression? A demand by protesters, many of them native-Americans, to lower gasoline prices.

So it seems that one issue which moves people in other countries to take to the streets to protest is high gas prices. Now maybe you believe that people in the U.S. (who call themselves "Americans" even though we're all Americans from Canada to Tierra del Fuego) are special and unique and will take to the streets in mass and turn out in mass to vote in protest against medieval misogynistic Supreme Court decisions. Maybe so.

Or maybe they're just like everyone else. Human all too human.

TheDudeDiogenes said...

My prediction is that the poor (and likely to worsen) economic situation and Dem overreach on cultural flashpoints like trans rights will lead to a Red Wave this fall, even despite the overturning of Roe.

I have a hard time imagining that the Dems will be able to turn things around sufficiently to win anything in 2024.

LFC said...

Not that this will be news to s.w., but the Left is on the march in Latin America:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/20/petro-latin-america-left/

DDA said...

Dirt, mold it's all schmutz to me.

Anonymous said...

This partisan court tries to kill abortion. Loves guns like the NRA. And will soon destroy the EPA. We need Supreme Court reform, somehow. Yet the voters will likely focus on the price of gasoline, the thing that no President has much control over. I fear Dems will lose both houses of Congress this fall. I hope I’m wrong.

Anonymous said...

FWIW, a new poll says:

51% of voters nationally say the Supreme Court’s decision will make them more likely to vote for a congressional candidate who would back a law that would restore the protections of Roe. 36% would definitely vote against a candidate with that intent, and 13% are unsure.

Democrats (48%) currently have the advantage over the Republicans (41%) among registered voters in the congressional generic ballot question. Their advantage has slightly widened from five points (47% for the Democratic candidate and 42% for the Republican candidate) in May after the leaked draft of the Roe v. Wade decision.

https://maristpoll.marist.edu/polls/npr-pbs-newshour-marist-national-poll-the-overturning-of-roe-v-wade-june-2022/