History
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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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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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Secularism and Pluralism: Divergent Social Imaginaries
My faith as a Christian cannot be privatized. My relationship with God is personal, but it isn’t private. 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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The Good Life: Differing Visions for a Thriving Society
“…if we are to offer resistance to the coup attempt on both the administrative state and on the imaginary that agency is core to a meaningful life, we might consider pushing back on over-reach technological rationality.” Continue reading
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It’s Hard to be Embarrassed; is that a problem?
This may be one time when we all know that we exist between the past and future. Continue reading
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The Problem with Mass Pop Music isn’t that it’s “Pop”: Mass Culture and Mass Society
Republicans don’t annoy me; Democrats don’t either. Conservatives don’t annoy me, neither do Liberals or New Democrats. But…. technocrats annoy me. Continue reading
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The 10 Commandments and The 8 Beatitudes: Development in Consciousness
We are now living in the necessary push back and what we need most is grace. Grace is not manufactured or created by us. It is a new person, a new idea, a new consensus – which feels like it falls from heaven. Continue reading
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Limitations on Rights: a Bicentennial Reminder from Hegel’s “Elements of the Philosophy of Right”
Among the books of the nineteenth century that have something important to say to us now Hegel’s Elements of the Philosophy of Right (1820) deserves a prominent place. It’s not the obvious contender for a popular read in the 21st century. He doesn’t make it easy for himself if getting readers was the aim as his 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 