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Tag Archives: ideology
On the very idea of ISIS – Part II
In the first part of this post I argued that beliefs held by individuals are not a good basis on which to analyse geopolitical events. Both beliefs and their associated collective-level behaviours are the result of other forces operating in the environment … Continue reading
Posted in Human Nature, International Politics, Media, Military, Philosophy, Political Psychology
Tagged human nature, ideology, ISIS, Media, terrorism, Wittgenstein
1 Comment
On the very idea of ISIS – Part I
The very idea of wanting to explain a practice–for example, the killing of the priest-king–seems wrong to me. All that Frazer does is to make them plausible to people who think as he does. It is very remarkable that in … Continue reading
Posted in Human Nature, International Politics, Military, Philosophy, Political Psychology
Tagged capitalism, ideology, ISIS, political psychology, terrorism, Wittgenstein
Comments Off on On the very idea of ISIS – Part I
Selling rope
There’s an anecdote, probably apocryphal, that in the early 1920s Lenin claimed that capitalism would provide the rope to hang itself. When some wag (reputedly Grigori Zinoviev, a close associate) responded by asking ‘Where will we get the rope?’ – at … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy, Labour, Maori, Media, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology, Poverty
Tagged capitalism, Elections, ideology, Internet Party, Mana Party, Media, political psychology, Voting
1 Comment
Flagging interest in ‘folly’ of vexillology
John Key seems like an unlikely vexillologist – or should that be vexillographer?. That aside, what was John Key ‘flagging’ when he proposed a referendum on New Zealand’s national flag to coincide with this year’s election – without having already … Continue reading
Adam Smith and the Left and Right of Moral Sentiment – A Christmas Tale
[I’m on holiday in a place with very limited and irregular cellphone coverage and access to the internet. That means I haven’t included links in this post but, when I’ve quoted from Adam Smith’s work, I’ve referenced the ‘Part’ and … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Free Market, Human Nature, Human Wellbeing, National Identity, New Zealand Politics, Philosophy
Tagged Adam Smith, capitalism, human nature, ideology
3 Comments
Disdaining democracy
All those years ago – you know, way back when John Key wasn’t the Prime Minister – the populace, so we found out, was getting restless. Its main complaint about the government of the day was that it was ‘off … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy, Economics, New Zealand Politics
Tagged Christchurch, community, democracy, Elections, ideology, Local Government, National, urbanisation, Voting
4 Comments
What ground is ‘left’ when it comes to land, assets – and nationalism?
It’s the issue that won’t go away [and here], so it’s probably a good time to ask “Where should the left stand on the land (and ‘our’ assets)?” “Stand in the place where you live” – so sang REM in what … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Freedom, Human Nature, Human Wellbeing, National Identity, New Zealand Politics
Tagged capitalism, economic history, Freedom, ideology, markets, New Zealand Identity
Comments Off on What ground is ‘left’ when it comes to land, assets – and nationalism?
Out of control
Sometimes, you just can’t keep things under control in politics. You know how it goes – somehow Treasury documents get accidentally posted on websites; somehow the government’s majority ‘control’ over partially privatised state assets just isn’t what you thought it … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Free Market, New Zealand Politics
Tagged asset sales, ideology, John Key, markets, National, private sector, Voting
3 Comments
Believing what you need to believe
It’s a common belief that politics and policy-making would be better if it availed itself of the fruits of scientific endeavour. Some call it ‘evidence-based policy‘ and it is often those on the left who call for much more of … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Human Wellbeing, New Zealand Politics, Political Psychology
Tagged capitalism, human nature, ideology, political psychology
2 Comments
The Right’s Dependence on Welfare
A recent comment by Don Brash [about 7mins45secs into the video] gave me the clue as to why the right are so dependent on the ‘welfare’ argument. They are, to put it bluntly, dependent on ‘welfare’ as the explanation for all … Continue reading
Posted in Free Market, Human Nature, Human Wellbeing, Labour, New Zealand Politics
Tagged economic history, human nature, ideology, urbanisation, welfare, wellbeing
4 Comments