Does America need a new agency to combine law enforcement and intelligence functions, AKA spy on American citizens?
These aren’t good times for traditional socialists. What with the disappearance of the Soviet Union and its satellites, China’s evolution towards bog-standard market authoritarianism, and the dismal record of the few remaining true-blue Communist regimes (Cuba, North Korea, Myanmar etc), there aren’t all that many active examples of state socialism out there to inspire the masses. But there is one political organization that has remained true to the cause through thick and thin, providing its members with extensive social benefits in return for unquestioning obedience. Friends, comrades, I give you the US Armed Forces.
Via Virulent Memes, I see that an American-Australian academic is recommending Australia merge with the U.S. This kind of suggestion comes up a lot, though for some reason the suggestion always seems to be that Australia would become the 51st state. Wouldn’t it be better if the six Australian states stayed as separate states? Not sure.
I’ve been planning to write about John Rawls’s theory of international justice – what he calls “the law of peoples” – when I have a little more time. But Eric Alterman has posted a letter from “David” in Baltimore that touches on the subject, and this seems like a good excuse to say something. Here, I only want to try to clarify Rawls’s position, rather than to evaluate it.