‘Commentary’ Archives
Philosophy and the Police
By Peter Molenaar They say that all conscious beings are a product of the evolution of matter. Yet we must resist all forms of oppression as if moved by ”˜God”'s will”'. Such is one meaning of the expression: Black Lives Matter. Yes, we live in a country built upon the most massive genocide and cruelest enslavement, and yes, the existing ruling class descends from the perpetrators. Are the police merely servants of the capitalist order, or are things complex in nature? Once upon a time, land based “lords” hand-picked their cops from peasant stock, to facilitate tribute from travailing merchants. However, as mass production industry developed, the emergent bourgeoisie disdained to tolerate the tolls, which every fiefdom imposed. Hence, in the “religious wars” of Europe, ”˜divine right”' was defeated by ”˜predestination”' and the modern nation state was born. The new bourgeois Protestantism also dealt a blow to [...]
EDITORIAL: Will a Church, History, and Memories be Trashed again?
The origin of Monopoly, the most popular board game in modern history, is ironically descriptive of the current “land grab” in Phillips at 25th Street and Park and Columbus Avenues. Monopoly players indulge in cutthroat, ruthless, and greedy impulses. Players begin the game as equals. Monopoly was the product of a passion for social and economic justice. In 1904 Elizabeth Magie designed a board game to demonstrate the tragic effects of land-grabbing; oligarchs enrich themselves at the expense of tenants, the latter grow poorer as available land decreases and rent increases. The poorer the proletarian player gets, the more he or she is squeezed; there is nowhere to go that doesn”'t demand a fee of some kind, and there is no respite. The game ends only when everyone is driven penniless into the ground, but for a single aristocrat who now owns everything. She named it The Landlords”' Game. Coincidentally she married Albert Phillips in 1910. In [...]
My Talk With June Bug Regarding Non-Violence
By Peter Molenaar Hah! June Bug, you have come to rest your long forelegs across a rumple of my jeans”¦evidently not to bite me. Alright then, it seems we shall enter a state of mutual contemplation. Are you aware of the violence in this world? Note: “The LGBT community has stood side by side with the American-Muslim community during challenging and difficult times. We stand together against hatred, violence and demonization of entire communities.” ”“ Jalani Hussein, Executive Director of the Minnesota Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (as found in Alondra Cano”'s NOTICIAS). Do you wonder if I, a proponent of socialism, am also an advocate for violent revolution? No, marvelous creation of the evolution of matter, God”'s gift to me, I am not. But neither am I a pacifist, nor do I consider the philosophical concept of “a just war” to be entirely passé. Yet in the context of our mutual [...]
