Opinion
“War Music”: Adaptation and Other Responses to Homer
With the fervor of its political and theological themes, the irrepressible energy of War Music helps the modern reader understand Homer’s epic not as a corpse to be autopsied under the cold lights of the seminar room, but a national mythos suitable for the church, the (movie) theater, the bar, and the Rose Garden, all at once.
Unanswered Questions: In Claudia Rankine’s “Just Us”, a Call for Conversation
Our laughter gave voice to the things that words could not, another kind of “two-step,” perhaps, acknowledging the wrongs that cannot be righted without succumbing to them.
The Duty to Concede
Thus, by refusing a peaceful transition of power and favoring partisan rhetoric over political unity, President Trump not only flouts a cornerstone of American democracy, but also threatens to initiate a period of intense post-election partisanship.
When the Future Buries the Past: The UAE-Israel Normalization
We do not know today, nor will we know for a while, exactly what this deal has changed for Israel’s approach to the Palestinians. But what we do know for sure is that as a result of this deal, Israel and its Prime Minister are stronger than they have been for years, and the Palestinians will likely come to feel this might in the near future.
The Case Against Social Justice Slideshows
The imposition of a singular belief system on a multicultural society such as the U.S. is dangerously antithetical to the American tenet of liberalism. It erases the beauty of our country’s varying customs, traditions, religious beliefs and ideological positions, and ignores our unending effort to create compromise and accommodations along those lines.
Fleeting Ecstasy: Amazon and the American Mind
That Americans have more confidence in Amazon than in the education system or Congress is troubling because Amazon is not invested in the well being of Americans so much as it is invested in convincing Americans that we need Amazon for our well being—and more, that we will never stop needing it.
On Executive Orders
While it is true that Congress had been unable to reach a compromise, and relief was running out and badly needed, by taking under his authority this kind of substantive policy-making Trump is giving a signal to Congress that presidential action can become an alternative to Congressional compromise. This dangerous precedent is the result of our current state of Congressional hyper-partisanship, under which American democracy cannot persist in the long-run.
“Settling” for Biden
Voting in its sense is an act of empathy. It is not selfish. It is ultimately the one act that we all do to contribute to a common good and a common vision for a shared future.