History

In Weimar Republic 2.0 (2022), I traced the threads linking the collapse of the Weimar Republic (1919‑1933) to the fraying edges of modern democracy. Weimar did not implode overnight; it came apart via a string of small, human‑sized mistakes, the kind that make history mutter, “Told you so,” under its breath. This post builds on that compass, first examining missteps that felled Weimar, then holding a wary mirror to today’s politics. Consider it a cautious projection, riddled with blind spots, like most maps drawn by people claiming omniscience. ...

Picture a journalist, a scientist, or even your neighbour declaring with solemn authority: “I am being objective.” Dignified, is it not? Objective, impartial, fact-driven, like a well-polished broom sweeping all bias into the corner. Only, as with most magical brooms, it has a particular corner it prefers: the one that keeps the powerful comfortable and the inconvenient quiet. Objectivity can sometimes be used to avoid confronting ethical dilemmas. And claiming objectivity is rarely neutral. Like neutrality, it carries consequences. Often, it shields those already in power while quietly silencing the vulnerable. ...

Imagine standing on the pavement, observing an injustice unfold. Perhaps a villain is performing egregiously bad deeds, or a bureaucrat is quietly rearranging paperwork in a way that ruins lives. You shrug. You mutter, “Not my circus, not my monkeys,” and continue scrolling through social media. This is the practical magic of neutrality: invisible, polite, and utterly useful if your goal is to help the oppressor. Desmond Tutu, who knew more than a little about elephants on mice, explained it in no uncertain terms: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” And just to make sure nobody missed the metaphor, he added: “If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” ...

In 1991, The Tech at MIT published an interview with Joseph Weizenbaum, the computer scientist best known for creating ELIZA and later becoming one of the field’s sharpest internal critics. Speaking with Diana ben‑Aaron, he dissected the role of computers in education, their entanglement with the military, and the ethical evasions of scientists. Three decades later, his words are less a time capsule and more a mirror, the issues he named have not only persisted but mutated into modern forms, from AI hype cycles to tech‑military partnerships dressed up in start‑up chic. This post is a “then/now” rendering of that interview: his points in their original spirit, and how they look in the world of 2025. ...

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE), far from being an unfortunate bureaucratic misstep, represents a meticulous continuation of state-sanctioned racial subjugation. The organisation does not merely enforce immigration law; it embodies the operational logic of a system built, quite literally, on unpaid labour, racial hierarchy, and legally sanctioned cruelty. This article serves as a follow-up to ICE: The shadow of unchecked power, moving beyond symptoms and into the structural bones of the matter. We shall trace three interlocking chains: the legal codification of slavery via the 13th Amendment, the evolution of concentration camp logic in immigration enforcement, and the ideological inheritance ICE receives from the American South’s slavery economy. ...

The Weimar Republic, that plucky little democratic experiment that popped up in Germany after the Kaiser buggered off (finally, some good news) and everyone else was too busy starving to argue. It’s become the go-to historical analogy for every hand-wringer who spots a far-right meme in Brussels or a political tantrum in the US and immediately declares, “We’re doomed, repeat of the 1930s!” Really? Let’s pause a second: history doesn’t repeat. At best, it stumbles drunkenly into the same pub, orders the same terrible lager, and then vomits on the carpet, same general pattern, slightly different carpet, maybe a new stain this time. ...