There's been much discussion about the significance of Orbán's electoral defeat, not to say his prior rule. But as I ask and try to answer here, why do so many people across the political spectrum continue to obsess over Hungary in the first place?
As the recent attack on the the U.S. consulate in Toronto indicates, the persistent targeting of Jewish institutions in Canada are not just a problem for Jews, but for Canadian sovereignty itself. I explain why in @nationalpost.bsky.social today
nationalpost.com/opinion/syna...
I recently half-joked that we decided to destroy modern literacy in order to get rid of imaginary "lit bros." I make the actual argument here:
www.washingtonexaminer.com/premium/4470...
Wait, are there any conditions in which you would accept the removal of residents who were here illegally?
This is our Iliad, and even if it weren't it's not like we're exactly surfeited with literacy among the young these days that we need them discarding what reading materials they have
Glad they upheld
I am not wildly enthused about Trump's latest bluster over Greenland, but as I wrote here, it has been instructive to see Europeans, Canadians, et al. displaying such outrage at being treated like American dependencies. What exactly did they think they were?
thecritic.co.uk/how-much-res...
For your New Year's reading: debates over citizenship are everywhere, from the birthright question in the U.S. and Canada to the Alaa Abd El-Fattah controversy and beyond, but we we lack a clear understanding of how the concept has changed over time.
www.city-journal.org/article/anci...
Needing a break from heavier themes, I wrote probably more than most people want to know about properties of sound, audio equipment, and collecting vinyl records.
davidpolansky.substack.com/p/my-music-c...
Were you lecturing at Henry Hill's wedding?
I treasure my Brazilian LPs, but I don't think I've come by any of them easily
Yeah I meant the LP -- have been searching for it
Do you have this one?
I reviewed the new book by @shadihamid.bsky.social which makes the case for American power. My takeaway is that he's reverse engineering neoconservatism albeit from very different premises. Give it a read (both the book and the review):
davidpolansky.substack.com/p/review-sha...
Free speech Canada vs US, an ongoing conundrum. A delight as always to chat with @polanskydj.bsky.social, for The Jewish Angle @thecjn.bsky.social thecjn.ca/opinion/is-f...
Another example of this
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RLu...
I mostly stayed offline yesterday, but I did set down some thoughts on why, as much as I do hope this latest peace proposal sticks, the larger question of Palestinian sovereignty is still unresolved—partly because people seem to keep seeing past it.
davidpolansky.substack.com/p/what-did-w...
The absence of the substance of sovereignty remains an issue that people still seem to talk around rather than about, and it remains the outstanding question where enduring stability in the Levant is concerned.
Rather, an identity was cultivated over time by primarily external actors: not just the Israelis, but the Soviets, other Arab states, international organizations, etc. As all of those (except Israel) retreated, it was like a scaffolding being taken down without a building.
Part of this is simply a function of the strange trajectory of Palestinian nationhood: it was neither a case of a preexisting nation that still seeks political independence, nor a case of an existing state that had to cultivate a national identity.
Neither the legions of negotiators, nor the new wave of formal recognitions for a Palestinian state, nor the "Free Palestine" crowd has really worked out the core question: who actually rules and with what authority?
I mostly stayed offline yesterday, but I did set down some thoughts on why, as much as I do hope this latest peace proposal sticks, the larger question of Palestinian sovereignty is still unresolved—partly because people seem to keep seeing past it.
davidpolansky.substack.com/p/what-did-w...
I will admit to not being a fan, though I agree that you can see them diverging, and in retrospect the technocratic and messianic approaches were probably always an uneasy fit.
davidpolansky.substack.com/p/innocents-...
Yeah that sounds like Coates
Oh I haven't listened to the interview, but a lot of people on here seem, um, disproportionately upset about it
Brave post
In the wake of Kirk's killing, I am seeing what has become a common tendency to attribute such attacks to a kind of abstract political contagion or historical momentum we can barely withstand. I try to explain here why I think we should resist this impulse.
davidpolansky.substack.com/p/against-th...
