Have you ever held your tongue during an otherwise friendly conversation because you could see exactly what would happen if you spoke your mind? Not because you lacked an answer, but because answering would transform the conversation into a trial of your character. Scope note: Critical Theory is a diverse and disputed intellectual tradition. This essay offers a broad introduction to a recurring…

The distinction between Islam and Islamism is useful. Islam is a diverse religion; Islamism is the political project of ordering society and the state according to an assertedly Islamic system. Confusing the two turns every Muslim into a political suspect. Pretending they have nothing important to do with one another, however, requires a different kind of dishonesty. Islamism also covers more…

I saw The Odyssey last weekend and I enjoyed it. I didn't know if I would given how much I disliked the book, and particularly Odysseus himself, in high school. But, the movie is its own thing and it's pretty good. Nolan having Odysseus acknowledge his dog was a savvy move, Americans were not going to take kindly to the original plot point.

The right-wing grifter crash out over the movie is expected and boring. Their knee-jerk reaction to oppose everything popular is predictable and a sign that they realize they've already lost the culture after their brief moment of ascension early last year.

The movie really fit into my classical liberal worldview, one that rebukes violence and embraces family, loyalty, and the social contract. What I took from the film is the importance of the social contract and how once it's broken all of civilization crumbles. Odysseus is right to be ashamed for how he behaved. Homeric heroism and glory is not where we are as a civilization. It's 2026. The Greeks behaved like the Islamic State, the Taliban, or the government of Iran that routinely rapes and murders its citizens. Why is Matt Walsh upset that Odysseus is ashamed to have behaved that way? Why is he ideologically aligned with ISIL?

It's because the right is -- it is ideologically aligned with anti-liberal extremists. They have embraced the worldview of their strongman cult leader that laws and customs have no meaning and the strong and sketchy prevail. American conservatives have repudiated the notion of the social contract. However, they aren't smart enough to articulate that, so instead we get whining about black ladies and women pretending to be men.

A free society is not composed of isolated individuals on one side and government on the other. If those are the only two poles we recognize, every social problem eventually collapses into either a private burden or a state responsibility. Civil society is the layer of life in between. It is the network of families, friendships, churches, charities, clubs, unions, schools, neighbourhood groups,…

Equality before the law is one of the basic principles of a free society. It means that every citizen enters the legal system with the same basic standing. The law does not treat a person as more guilty, more innocent, more believable, more suspicious, more deserving, or less deserving because of race, sex, religion, class, ancestry, political tribe, or social status. The law deals with persons,…

Free speech is often defended badly. Sometimes it is treated as a license to say anything without consequence. Sometimes it is reduced to personal self-expression. Sometimes it is framed as a courtesy extended to polite, harmless, approved opinions. That misses the deeper point. In a classically liberal society, free speech serves a practical purpose: it lets citizens search for truth, correct…