Ideology of Power

For the past few days, the name - and face of - 'Ilhan Omar' has been plastered all over the news. Apparently she has unequivocally apologised - for invoking anti-semitic tropes in controversial tweets. It is interesting to note here that much of the pressure for her to apologise came not from the Right, but from US House Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi . It seems that Speaker Pelosi is having a difficult time reining in these newer additions to House Democrats, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib (most famous for characterising Trump as a 'Motherfucker') and Ilhan Omar herself.

Justice is politicized in America. When accusations fly, public discourse frequently devolves into a shouting match where truth is put in service of a broader, political goal. So it is in the latest situation boring its way through the foundations of a purportedly 'democratic' society built upon notions of due process. Your immediate question is: "What's your angle? Who do you support? What's the  politics  behind your answer?" There are two points to consider: (1)Is Kavanaugh guilty of sexual misconduct; and (2)How would this influence social politics in the country?

Star Wars continues its line of SJW movies with the most recent Solo: A Star Wars Story, riding on a purported wave of success starting from The Force Awakens. All signs point however to the fact that this wave is flagging, as the novelty of a “rejuvenated” Star Wars franchise wears off and weary fans lament the lack of faithfulness to the source material. Hardly surprising, given rumours of Kathleen Kennedy’s pronouncements dismissing the support of male fans. While it is unclear just how true these rumours might be, the fact of the matter is that these rumours have gained traction and caused a fan backlash. The first Star Wars movie in 10 years – The Force Awakens – might have been buoyed by fan anticipation and nostalgia, but that repository of potential sales has been progressively sapped by consecutive movies ham-fistedly pushing the well-worn narrative of inclusiveness and diversity. As I have discussed in previous articles, this is reflective of insidious politically correct...

This is by no means a comprehensive study; rather, it is an appeal to common sense, the common sense to avoid the rubbish which clutters up so much of the Internet. It is in the Internet where opinions metastasize without end, where false information is passed on with a speed and ferocity overwhelming the nuanced truth. Never has it been more important to exercise one’s own judgment – by “exercise of judgment” I mean the process of balancing considerations and rationalising decisions, with an eye to making considered, sensible conclusions. I emphasise this because it is all too easy to fall in with the opinions of others, determined perhaps by one’s predilections and no more. This way of making decisions is no better than those of the Islamic Fundamentalist zealots, the ones who ultimately end up as suicide bombers, nor is it better than the similarly extremist Crusaders who were fuelled by religious zealotry and expansionist ambitions. Unfortunately, this sort of mass thinking has...

A ‘modern’ life, steeped in so many distractions, is one which stays unfulfilled because it is unfocused. From the moment we enter into the world, we are beset by distractions of all kinds, sourced from technological marvels that steal the better part of life and vitality; and we think we make sense of it, but only superficially. Worthless information is processed in billions upon billions of man-hours – the wasted potential of a stagnating society bent on self-gratification. Those hours fill a void created by boredom. Here is a loveless world, where love has less meaning because life has less meaning to individuals. Ultimately, our ability to feel love - romantic love between people as well as love of doing things (which I call craftsmanship) - is ruined.

It has been a rocky journey since election night, where (now President) Trump shocked the world in a miraculous upset victory over Hillary Clinton. The writing had been on the wall, and the complacency of the media outlets had obscured the root of the problem, making it seem as though a Clinton win was inevitable – a supposed fait accompli . As is always the case, political analysts and strategists, with the advantage of hindsight, have perspicuously adduced myriad reasons and factors accounting for Trump’s win. Whatever transpired, our business is in the present, where Trump’s first days have been just as controversial as his presidential campaign. Now the target for much invective, the most entertaining of which has been the Women’s March, Trump’s executive actions have spanned almost the entire breadth of his campaign promises, his most recent one being a temporary ban on all immigration from seven primarily Muslim countries: ‘Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen’...

M uch ado has been made about freedom in the past 70 years since the world emerged from the tragic conflagration of World War II. The relations between countries, dictated by the New World Order that emerged then, still reigns today, reflected and observed in multifaceted international issues, through massive financial crises and in the grating conservatism of international institutions, which have acted more as guarantors of Western hegemony than as impartial custodians of the international interest. The 'Freedoms' we are fed and consequently influenced to praise are derived from Western, or more specifically American, values. Due to the relentlessly pervasive iterations of the Western way of life portrayed on every media platform imaginable, every country must be willing to cede at least some cultural or spiritual authority to the West, no matter how authoritarian. This is inevitable given geopolitical realities, but more importantly also because of its almost universal reson...

Despite the bluster of the Republican presidential nominee, it seems quite unlikely that recent poll results on the popularity and support of his campaign can universally be discounted. The recent ABC/Washington Post Poll brought matters to a head, showing an immense 12% lead for Hillary over Trump. Of course, poll results vary (probably a result of both sample bias or political maneuver, but in what proportion is anyone's guess), yet there seems to be a consensus no matter which poll one looks at: Clinton is firmly in the lead. Of course, with about a hundred days left till the start of the primaries, there is hardly any certainty about the results; the volatility of recent events attests to that fact. From the Orlando shooting to Brexit, to the resulting fallout in the financial markets where more than $2 trillion in equities was wiped out, the last few weeks has been spectacularly chaotic. Politics is a vast public undertaking, relying on mass communication to  galvanize  ...

A large part of politics is concerned with advertising. It might seem slightly distasteful that candidates making a bid for leadership positions in society, supposedly people with firm moral fiber and incorruptible characters, could be involved in self-promotion. Yet it is a truism. The endeavor is steeped in accusations ranging from the extreme of racist or misogynistic, through hypocrisy, to lighter imputations of disingenuousness and lying. Self-promotion becomes self aggrandizement: promises to fix all the ills afflicting society from poverty to fundamentalism are made regardless of the capacity to fulfill them, made only to pander to the electorate. Grandiloquence must be held together by a minimum of coherence, but the good politician knows to control his rhetoric and avoid becoming entrapped in inflexible vows – in other words lying, but painting it in other ways.  That advertisement glosses over the truth or that it involves fabricating white lies and manipulating the prese...