The Rich and the Poor

A Heretic’s Log: A series of philosophical essays written between September 20, 2002 and July 15, 2004.

When it comes to the issue of poverty in the world, there are no lights at the end of the tunnel, although there is a need for lights to be present all through it.

We can easily assert today, and studies in this regard are too numerous to mention, that the majority of the peoples of Earth are not receiving their “fair and reasonable” share of the material benefits of globalization. Meanwhile people’s expectations regarding what constitutes this fair and reasonable share are being reshaped daily, making it ever harder for their attainment to take place and creating a condition of constant frustration as a consequence. Continue reading “The Rich and the Poor” →

Few Notes on Islamic Reformation

An intervention in an electronic forum

Hi all,

Let me take the opportunity to add a few notes to this discussion being, in part, a man of an Islamic background, though I currently do not profess to be a Muslim or a member in any faith. Continue reading “Few Notes on Islamic Reformation” →

On the Pragmatic State!

In an ideological state, the ruling ideology is not important in itself but only inasmuch as it can serve as a mantra whose repetition is necessary to justify the continuing control of the corrupt ruling elite. For this reason, ideological states are almost always incapable of reinventing themselves. The best that can be achieved in them is implosion and disintegration.

The survival of a certain administrative core, in some cases, and the fight to maintain that survival, are not necessarily signs of (cultural and civilizational) vitality inasmuch as they are indications of the desperate activities of certain interest groups working hard to cut down their losses, on the one hand, and maximize their potential benefits from the breakdown, on the other. Continue reading “On the Pragmatic State!” →

Class & Morality

Of all the barriers that separate people in the world, racial, ethnic, linguistic, religious, sectarian, etc., the barrier represented by one’s social class, however defined, seems to be, historically, one of the hardest to break through. In fact, the thing that often makes the other barriers so difficult to break through or maneuver around seems related in no small measure to the fact that, in time, they tend to acquire a social dimension as well. That is, they end up delineating social classes as well. Or should we say sociomoral classes, since each class tend to develop its own particular conception of morality?

Continue reading “Class & Morality” →