In The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte Marx wrote: Hegel remarks somewhere[*] that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. Caussidière for Danton, Louis Blanc for Robespierre, the Montagne of 1848 to 1851[66] for the Montagne of … Continue reading The 18.25th Brumaire of Donald Trump
Author: Citizen Rat
I teach courses in Economics and International Relations at Shawnee State University, a small public University in Southern Ohio. I also teach and train in Shotokan Karate.The opinions expressed on this blog are my own opinions and do not represent the views of my University or any other organization.
Evolutionary Social Theory: Progress
After a significant amount of additional research and some initial difficulties in actually getting my thoughts down on paper, my book project, Evolutionary Social Theory is now well underway, with two draft chapters essentially complete. I have an official contract with Routledge and I'm working on a two year timeline with a goal of approximately … Continue reading Evolutionary Social Theory: Progress
The Elections: What Lessons Can be learned?
As the results came in on election night, it initially appeared that Biden had lost the Presidential elections and that the Democratic Party had suffered a disastrous loss. With the votes now mostly counted however, it is clear that the final performance of both Biden and the Party while not the "blowout" anticipated, were also … Continue reading The Elections: What Lessons Can be learned?
Dueling Cancel Cultures
This post was edited to incorporate relevant information which I was not aware of when I first wrote it. This information adds perspective to the issue, but it does not undermine my original argument. Recently, a number of prominent media pundits and academics published a letter in Harper's Magazine and elsewhere calling for both Justice … Continue reading Dueling Cancel Cultures
Epistemology and COVID 19
In the 20th Century, the philosopher Karl Popper drew the boundaries of demarcation between science and pseudoscience in terms of falsification. Exactly what Popper did and did not mean by falsification can be disputed. But the history of the philosophy of science throughout the 20th century has at leats taught us that distinguishing warranted and unwarranted claims … Continue reading Epistemology and COVID 19
Ohio’s Free Speech on Campus Bill
The Ohio has recently passed Senate Bill 40 , aka "Forming Open and Robust University Minds Act". It will most likely be signed by the governor, thus creating a State Law to protect the free speech clause of the First Amendment to the US Constitution at Ohio public universities. The bill would bring an end … Continue reading Ohio’s Free Speech on Campus Bill
No Cheers for Garcetti
A recent lawsuit against my own University by a colleague of mine alleging violation of his First Amendment rights to speech, exercise of religion along and due process has been dismissed on summary judgement in the U.S. District Court for Southern Ohio. The professor in this case is represented by The Alliance Defending Freedom. The dismissal … Continue reading No Cheers for Garcetti
Conspiracy Theories Part 2
In my previous post on this topic, I referenced the case of Joy Karega, whose employment at Oberlin College came to an end, due, to anti-semitic posts on her Facebook page as well as her advocacy of the theory that the CIA and Mossad, deliberately created ISIS as part of a larger policy agenda to … Continue reading Conspiracy Theories Part 2
Are we really all constructivists now?
I've taught International Political Economy for 20 years and to be fair, I've tended to give Constructivism short shrift, choosing instead to devote my time to Realism, Liberalism and Marxism. This semester however, I decided to be a bit more thorough, and hopefully fair, about the possible contributions and shortcomings of Constructivism. In the process … Continue reading Are we really all constructivists now?
Chomsky vs. Zizek?
Noam Chomsky makes some interesting points in this video about Slavoj Zizek and Zizek raises some valid points in response. I'm a little torn about who to side with in this dispute. There's a debate/discussion worth having here, and I actually find myself wishing for an actual Chomsky-Zizek debate. Chomsky has been one of … Continue reading Chomsky vs. Zizek?
