Paradox Point

  Wall Prayer (to be placed in the Western Wall)     May it be erosion, and not man, that topples this wall and scatters these stones.  

          On Crimes against Reason in Flint, Michigan             I give two definitions to the phrase “crimes against reason”. A crime against reason, in the lesser sense, is a crime that makes no sense in its own terms. By flaws in planning, tactical or inherent, the misdeed cannot achieve the perpetrator’s goals. In retrospect the perpetrator shouldn’t have bothered to commit a crime with no reason.           A crime against reason, in the greater sense, is a crime against Reason itself. It is a violation targeting the victim’s ability to think, and thus self-defend against the perpetrator’s other predations.           The lead poisoning of the water in Flint, Michigan was a crime against reason, in the lesser sense. By saving $100 a day for three months, for a grand total in the tens of thou...

     ‘Conservative’ Passivity   One curious feature of so-called “conservatives” is their passivity. Climate change? Do nothing. Covid? Do nothing. School shootings? Do nothing. Just sit there and take it. This conserves effort and thought, but nothing else.           If you challenge them on this, then they will say that climate change, covid, or school shootings are over-dramatized, or no big deal, or aren’t real at all. This denial is defensive; it libels scientists, doctors, and bereaved parents; and it covers up their passivism.           They will also try whataboutism. Whatabout drugs? Or border control? Or crime? One may not like liberal policies about drugs, the border, and crime; but those policies have the virtue of existing. Calling massacres, a pandemic, and climate chaos non-problems is an excuse for complete inaction.     ...