— On Assholes

Yes, it is entirely possible.  Spain recently tried it, or started to try it, when Zapatero the socialist adopted republicanism in the style of Princeton philosopher Phillip Pettit.  Zapatero fell from grace after the 2008 crisis, but mainly because *the left* rejected his market-friendly response.  His republicanism apparently wasn’t socialistic enough.  The fascinating story is told in this book.

On Pettit-style republicanism, see this previous post.

Namely, this:

Most modern conservatives care deeply about conserving the valuable things we’ve already got–things like the family, religious practices, familiar culture, the environment, the local marketplace, and so on.

And yet they also mainly embrace the market, the most powerful force in the history of the world in destroying what we’ve got already. (Why is that?  Because markets

By letting an asshole get to you, explains Oliver Burkeman in today’s Guardian, here.  This may be the best discussion yet of the ideas in my book (albeit without the political philosophy bits)!

What is a “wazzock”?  John Cassidy, another Brit, explains in The New Yorker in light of Romney’s visit to England:

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That is, is American in decline?  And if so, is asshole proliferation the cause?  The answer, I take it, is “probably so,” though how likely and how bad the trend is much depends on what you mean by “decline.”

America is certainly in relative decline, that is to say, in a less powerful or influential geo-political position than in previous eras.  If nothing else, that’s due

Or so we called the asshole on this NPR show, which aired today.  (Podcast here.)  It was weirdly easy to make the switch!

I am starting to think that radio is much, much better for philosophy than tv

[A guest post by Dr. A. James Frisbee, Distinguished Scholar at the Center for Advanced Studies, California, U.S.A.]

It has been said, more times than decency would allow, that I am an asshole.

Today I refute this thesis, as unsound and untrue.  I refute it so soundly that only the weakest of irrational minds could indulge a moment’s temptation to find it other

A sympathetic understanding of “republican” thought requires us to raise taxes.

Here’s the sympathetic understanding: in society, our chief concern is and should be that everyone is assured against subjection to the arbitrary will of others.  In being so assured, we can look at our fellow citizens in the eye, as equals.  

This is from a Q and A with yours truly over at “the nook,” a nice blog on things cultural, literary, and artistic, here.

aaron sat down with ‘the nook’ today and generously answered some questions that were burning our chapped, winter lips:

In moments of self-doubt, I’ve sometimes wondered whether he isn’t merely an ass-clown, and so unfairly classified as an asshole.

There’s a difference because you can be both obtuse–an “ass”– and prone to attention-seeking buffoonery–a “clown” and yet without all of this flowing from an

The next generation being two recently ousted corporate assholes, Scott Forstall of Apple and Steve Sinofsky of Microsoft.  Let us pause to appreciate a rare moment for justice: both got their comeuppance.

Both followed in Steve Job’s footsteps, styling themselves as indispensable visionaries who are entitled to set aside usual expectations of