Author Archives: stephenkmacksd

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About stephenkmacksd

Rootless cosmopolitan,down at heels intellectual;would be writer. 'Polemic is a discourse of conflict, whose effect depends on a delicate balance between the requirements of truth and the enticements of anger, the duty to argue and the zest to inflame. Its rhetoric allows, even enforces, a certain figurative licence. Like epitaphs in Johnson’s adage, it is not under oath.' https://www.lrb.co.uk/v15/n20/perry-anderson/diary

@FT, Ben Hall, William Drozdiak on the political fate of Emmanuel Macron! Old Socialist comments

M. 37% has an ally in The Financial Times, and its reviewer Ben Hall. Mr Hall presents an argument about the ‘baffling’,  ‘sheer opprobrium’ that French citizens hold for this arrogant little enarque: The sheer opprobrium many French citizens hold … Continue reading

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gideon.rachman@ft.com on the imperative ‘It’s time for a liberal fightback’. Old Socialist comments

The  ‘as if’ of his the latest political/economic intervention with the comic bellicose frame of ‘It’s time for a liberal fightback’ signals the abandonment of Liberalism’s revered rationality? Two books, in the political worldview of Mr. Rachman, do not exist: … Continue reading

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On the fictional valorization of Hillary Clinton, just in time ? American Writer comments

How opportune! As Senile Old Joe marinates in his cognitive decline , sequestered from public view. His campaign, such as it is, carefully managed ‘interviews’ with friendly media, and short videos. Curtis Sittenfeld’s ‘Counter Factual Biography’ of Hillary Clinton, to … Continue reading

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@TheTLS Psychoanalysis still falls under the rubric of ‘Science’! Philosophical Apprentice comments

Freudian ‘Science’ won’t go quietly! Professor Cohen considers  ‘pondering the tastelessly funny, improbably Freudian coincidence of the centennial of Beyond the Pleasure Principle with a deadly global pandemic.’ Josh Cohen is a psychoanalyst in private practice and Professor of Modern Literary … Continue reading

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Edward Luce’s Damascene moment on ‘the less well off’. Political Observer comments

It isn’t only Mr. Luce that is suddenly concerned with the welfare of ‘the less well off’. The Economist has just as suddenly come to a realization about ‘young minds’ : ‘If schools don’t open soon the effect on young … Continue reading

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Peter Spiegel reviews the ‘Deep State Analgesic’ of David Rohde. Political Observer comments

The opening paragraph of this essay reads, in part, as if were written in an American newspaper, during the the height of the McCarthy Purges, in its first sentence, while subsequently  critiquing it: call it maladroit framing, or pastiche journalism, … Continue reading

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On the Argentine Debt Crisis, in the pages of The Financial Times, with a link to Jayati Ghosh’s revelatory essay. Political Observer’s collection

From September 1 2019: Headline: Argentina: how IMF’s biggest ever bailout crumbled under Macri Sub-headline: With the Peronists waiting in the wings, the country is struggling to avoid a ninth sovereign default ‘The decision to seek what became the biggest bailout … Continue reading

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On ‘Just Hierarchy’ and other questions. Political Observer comments

Headline: Pro-people policies, dutiful citizens effective in China’s COVID-19 fight: Daniel A. Bell The myth of a ‘benevolent paternalism’ makes its return via a radical nostalgia for ‘safety’ in the age of Covid-19? Mr. Bell and his co-author Wang Pei, … Continue reading

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Jon Gray, Capitalist Hero in the pages of The Financial Times. Political Observer comments

Imagine the Blackstone Headquarters, 345 Park Avenue, New York. Just call this building, and its tenets, part of the Manhattan Corporate elite’s architectural hyperbole.   Lets focus on Mr. Gray’s private office, not that cavernous, even intimidating conference room, where each … Continue reading

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Andy Divine of April 24 2020

Andy Divine never shuts up! But when he does come up for air, to pronounce on ‘The Pandemic’ he is adept at playing the victim! Even America’s favorite discrete Neo-Liberal, Obama, tweeted about this! ‘I have direct, personal experience of … Continue reading

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