by Dyske Suematsu • February 7, 2011
These days, we tend to assume that “diversity” is a universally desirable quality, especially when applied to a group of people. I’m guessing it’s because the theory of evolution is now thoroughly in the domain of popular culture, and because “diversity” is a key concept that allows the process of natural selection to work. My daughter, Annika, attends a public school that prides itself for its “diversity”. In terms of the racial makeup of the school, it is indeed diverse, but having spent a year and a half there, I began to wonder what “diversity” means under the skin. I believe that diversity in and of itself is neither good nor bad. The question is how it is implemented. The fact that any school is “diverse” by itself does not mean anything. Read »
by George Kenney • December 18, 2005
In 1995, I wrote a piece in the New York Times Sunday Magazine where I tried to get a handle on how many people had actually been killed in the war in Bosnia. Estimates had been grossly abused, people (both journalists and policymakers) were basically hallucinating about the nature of the war—and drawing the consequent conclusions. At the time my piece was published I took a lot of flack. Among other barrages, one feature put me on the cover of the Washington Post’s Sunday Magazine (an irony here) and talked about how looking at me was like looking at something through the wrong end of a telescope. “How dare he insult the dead?” Read »
by Ken Stuart • October 7, 2004
The opinions of 250 million people cannot be split 50-50 on any substantive issue, in the absence of significant external manipulation. In fact, if you polled 250 people about a new situation (where they had not had any previous input) it would be unlikely that there would be a split of opinion even as close as 45-55. In human society, most people will agree on most things, most of the time. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • July 29, 2003
In the past several months, suddenly the name Leo Strauss has been all over the media. Before that, I had never heard of him. The media depicts a rather sinister picture of him being almost like the leader of a cult whose objective is clandestine domination of the world. This paper tries to demystify Leo Strauss. Read »
by Dyske Suematsu • May 13, 2003
American freedom is not the only kind of freedom that exists. American freedom is a very specific kind of freedom, and it is marketed fanatically in this country as if it is the only kind of freedom there is. It is overrated. This paper explores American freedom as a government-sponsored advertising campaign. Read »
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