Donald Trump
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Beyond Security: Violence, Power, and the Logic of Permanence in Israel Iran Palestine
When a war moves from neutralizing threats to reshaping another state’s political order, the line between defense and projection of power begins to blur. Arendt’s insight becomes visible: means are no longer contained by ends. They begin to generate new ends. Continue reading
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How Governments Frame Wars to Control the Moral Question
The first battle in many wars is therefore a battle over framing. Leaders attempt to shape the moral question the public believes it must answer. If they succeed, they gain a powerful advantage. People do not simply react to events. They react to the story that explains those events. Continue reading
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Donald Trump and Hannah Arendt’s On Violence: Power Without Power
“A politics that cannot cooperate must coerce. And a politics that must coerce has already failed.” Continue reading
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Understanding Sovereignty in Modern Political Discourse
Sovereignty renewed appeal cannot be explained solely by shifts in global power or the breakdown of international institutions. Rather, sovereignty has become inspirational because it mirrors a deeper concern of our age: the struggle for authenticity, i.e. the desire to act from within one’s own values rather than as an instrument of external systems. In… Continue reading
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Carney at the World Economic Forum – with commentary, links and references
Greenland looks like it will be an international testing ground. Minneapolis looks like the domestic testing ground. Continue reading
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Sovereignty: The Power Beyond Ownership
” Sovereignty and ownership overlap in everyday speech, but philosophically, linguistically, and practically they point to very different kinds of authority and relation.” Continue reading
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Re-thinking Inclusion: Introduction
on the one hand, we could accept the knocker’s argument that nominally inclusive post-secondary institutions potentially produce a lot of harm. There is just too much scaffolding required for an institution through a department of accessibility to provide customized, individual agency at scale. On the other hand, we can accept the booster’s argument that if… Continue reading
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If it Walks Like a Duck
Let’s not mince words: this is a duck; it is totalitarianism. This is no authoritarian swan or oligarchic goose; it is a totalitarian duck.. Continue reading
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Canada’s Mindful Approach to Managing Trump’s Influence
“Canada’s long-term relationship with the United States is more significant than any one leader’s policies, and recognizing the impermanence of Trump’s influence helps in moving forward without dwelling on past conflicts.” Continue reading
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Evil Never Wins… or Dies
Fortunately, I haven’t been much moved by an idea of America, or been swept-up in anti-American sentiment. I’ve never really understood what America even is. Continue reading
About me: I am a career educator and traveler at heart. My written work includes academic writing in philosophy and linguistics, English acquisition, and most intently in the areas of spiritual engagement with reality and what that means for our public lives.
My education is a mixture of formal study in philosophy, political theory, Biblical studies, and history, along with professional teaching certification in TESOL and in cognitive testing, and international teaching.
My travel experiences include a range of countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. I have lived in Canada, the United States, Germany, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Thailand. From those places I have traveled to many others besides.
I am a child of the 70’s and a “family man.” That means I have two wonderful kids who have been round the world with me.
Lastly, I am married to a wonderful woman since 2004. She is my partner, my friend, and my muse.
Thanks again for stopping by,
Raymond Klassen - Ideals and Identities 