Epicurus stayed clear of politics, but I thought this a good story, and rather clever: “Ukraine would like foreign assistance from the United States and its allies in its standoff with Russia; but outside of providing defense weaponry, the country would prefer the U.S.to just stay quiet. “When they start saying that tomorrow, you’re going …
Of the childless Americans aged 18 to 49, 44% now say they are never likely to become parents. More than half of the respondents who didn’t plan on having children cited personal preference, 17% cited financial obstacles, and 14% attributed their decision to the state of the world or climate change. (Pew Research Center, Dec …
It’s nearly ten years since the most extensive European survey yet attempted on the extent of violence against women. The conclusion was basically: “every day and everywhere”. Has anything improved? The killing of a young woman has convulsed Ireland in recent days, and reignited a broader debate about male violence. The Irish prime minister and …
Some sociologists believe that the rising number of non-religious Americans is a reaction against rightwing evangelicals. What if I were to tell you that the following trends in American religion were all connected: rising numbers of people who are religiously unaffiliated (“nones”) or identify as “spiritual but not religious”; a spike in positive attention to …
Continue reading ‘The backlash against rightwing evangelicals’ »
A note to all the participants of last Friday’s antiabortion March for Life rally, in Washington DC: I hope you’re preparing to make condoms rain from the sky. Buckets of them. Craploads, hurled from the cargo holds of the biggest planes you can find. Also, birth control pills. I hope every time a teenager opens …
Continue reading ‘Abortion: a matter solely for the mother (long but worth it!)’ »
AR-15-style assault weapons were designed to kill people quickly with little effort. Allowing shooters to buy these weapons of war has torn so many families and communities apart: Boulder – 10 murdered El Paso – 22 murdered Parkland – 17 murdered Sutherland Springs – 26 murdered Las Vegas – 60 murdered Orlando – 49 murdered …
A man who “never thought he would find love” has revealed he plans to marry a robot woman. Geoff Gallagher, from Queensland, Australia, had given up all hope of finding a partner until he read an article about AI robots and decided to splash out £3,000 on a synthetic girlfriend. He told 7 News: “The …
“Oxfam’s new bombshell report “Inequality Kills” lays out in stark detail just how much economic inequality has grown over the past two years of the pandemic and the negative, real-world consequences of the growth. “We all know that inequality is out of control, but some of the numbers coming out of this report are truly …
Scientists say a critical ice shelf in Antarctica could break apart within the next three to five years, leading to large sea-level rises. Satellite images presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union suggest the ice keeping together the Thwaites glacier in western Antarctica could soon shatter. The glacier is known as the …
Epicureanism was never meant to be a dry academic philosophy. In fact, it is best kept away from academia, where, as usual with philosophy, long words render it dull, if not incomprehensible. Rather, it is a vital way of living which seeks to free men and women from a life of unhappiness, fear and anxiety. …
“Euthanasia is the last taboo. We can change gender, two men can have a baby, two women can have a baby, and abortion is legal (just!). But a person with an incurable disease who wants to end her or his life cannot do so in most countries.” (Letter to the Guardian Weekly from Elizabeth Keating, …
“Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die”. (Novelist Anne Lamont, quoted in the New York Times) My comment: Refusing to forgive sours the soul.
US anti-vaxxers are now urging people to drink their own urine to fight coronavirus! Over the weekend, Christopher Key, the leader of an anti-Covid-19 vaccine group called the “Vaccine Police”, posted videos online extolling the health benefits of what he described as “urine therapy”. According to the wizard of wee, there is “tons and tons …
Continue reading ‘No measuring the depth of his stupidity….’ »
From time to time I post a short list of the main teachings of Epicurus: 1. The “Summum Bonum” or “Reason for Living” is happiness or pleasure. Happiness is peace of mind and body. It is tranquillity or undisturbedness (ataraxia), the quiet of a mind free from fear (or anxiety) and a body content with …
Love Let me not to the marriage of true minds Admit impediment; love is not love which alters when it alteration finds Or bends with the remover to remove. Oh, no. It is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken. It is the star to every wandering bark Whose worth’s unknown, …
Continue reading ‘Love comes within the purview of Epicureanism’ »
