My latest story on Third Place Magazine, "Danger, Keep Out!", a wild ride through the woods, with gorgeous artwork by @laurabaran
Defining Democracy: Pursuit of Happiness
Representative government. Separation of powers. Federalism. Rule of law. These principles capture the structure of democracy. What makes our democracy truly unique is not its formal setup but the spirit that drives it.
Defining Democracy: Moderation
Moderation seems to be getting a bad rap these days. In an increasingly polarized political climate, compromise is often seen as cowardly. Taking time to think about an issue before giving an answer is sometimes interpreted as being indecisive. But what does “moderation” really mean? Some call it selling out but is this actually true?
Rousseau on Happiness
Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his novel Julie or The New Heloise: “As long as we desire, we can do without happiness: we expect to achieve it.”
On the Point of Mistakes in Reading
I.A. Richards, in his How to Read A Page, wrote: “What is a mistake for a view of reading which does not acknowledge Reason as its Ruler? What would wrong and right mean here if we held that something else than Reason decides what we shall see as being true?”
I.A. Richards on Language
"A language is a fabric which holds itself together. It is a fabric which, for the most part brokenly and confusedly but sometimes with startling and heartbreaking clarity, reflects the fabric of universals which is our world." –I.A. Richards
Sexton and Lipton Must Resign: A Redux
Rebuttal to Professor Magder’s retort, by Edward Radzivilovskiy, Deputy Opinion Editor, Washington Square News
Transcript of Interview with Carne Ross on the Leaderless Revolution
Interview with Carne Ross, an economist, former high-ranking British diplomat, and founder and director of Independent Diplomat, a non-profit diplomatic advisory group. Mr. Ross has been a fervent supporter of Occupy and has recently appeared on shows such as the Colbert Report to discuss his latest book called The Leaderless Revolution.
Transcript of Interview with Noam Chomsky — After Thirty Years of Class War
Some have said that the Occupy movement does not have a cohesive message of its demands. What does Professor Chomsky believe? If the movement does have specific demands, how many of these demands can actually be realized?
Burning in the Melting Pot: The Development and Consequence of a Hybrid Identity
Shortly before departing to Paris for college, a brief incident caused me to reflect upon my ethnicity. While shopping in the produce section of Brooklyn’s Stop n’ Shop one day, an elderly woman approached me and asked, “Простите, молодой человек, вы знаете сколько стоят эти помидоры?” On first breath, I didn’t know how to respond to her asking if I knew the price of the tomatoes. Despite my instantaneous, indeed subconscious, mental translation, I considered myself an American and I was shopping at a typical American store. I felt insulted because she was labeling me and presuming my ethnic identity.