Age of Anger

Last updated on: January 5, 2018 at 4:51 am By Peter Leithart

We live in an Age of Anger, writes Pankaj Mishra. He sees it everywhere: “wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, suicide bombings in Belgium, Xinjiang, Nigeria and Turkey, insurgencies from Yemen to Thailand, massacres in Paris, Tunisia, Florida, Dhaka and Nice. Conventional wars between states are dwarfed by those between terrorists and counter-terrorists, insurgents and counter-insurgents; and there are also economic, financial and cyber wars, wars over and through information, wars for control of the drug trade and migration,... Read more

Binging Alone

Last updated on: January 5, 2018 at 4:45 am By Peter Leithart

George Monbiot notes the individualization of entertainment (Out of the Wreckage): “Television, while it tended to shut down conversation, at least was something that we watched, in the early days, together. Now we often watch is alone. We spend hours every day watching other people doing what we might otherwise be doing – dancing, singing, playing sport, even cooking” (62). In short, “television tells us . . . that life is somewhere other than where we are” (62). Celebrity culture... Read more

Bears of God

Last updated on: January 5, 2018 at 4:40 am By Peter Leithart

Keith Bodner examines the story of Elisha and the bears in his Elisha’s Profile in the Book of Kings (58-9). He observes that the boys’ insult “go up, you bald head” is ironic: “Elisha is mocked for his head, having just lost his head, Elijah (2:3). It is unclear whether those who taunt are aware of Elijah’s recent departure, but of course the reader appreciates the character differentiation: Elijah was well known because of ‘hair’ (2 Kings 1:8); now Elisha is identified... Read more

Global Boom and Bust

Last updated on: January 5, 2018 at 4:36 am By Peter Leithart

In a 2008 essay in Policy Review, PayPal founder Peter Thiel analyzes an “optimistic thought experiment” about globalization. The root idea is “apocalypse,” mostly of the secular variety. Thiel thinks that political actors and investors ignore the possibility of apocalypse, dangerously so. Along the way, Thiel traces the links between globalization and the boom-bust cycles of the past few centuries. Speculative bubbles inflate during times of globalist excitement; bubbles burst when globalization delivers less than it promised. In his own words: “For the last... Read more

Triumph of the Cross

Last updated on: December 22, 2017 at 2:58 am By Peter Leithart

Rene Girard (I Saw Satan Fall Like Lightning) quotes Colossians 2:14-15, and makes this observation: “The principal metaphor is triumph in the Roman sense, which is the reward that Rome bestowed on its victorious generals. Standing on his chariot, the victorious general made a solemn entrance into the city and received the acclamations of the crowd. The enemy leaders, in chains, were led along at the rear of the procession” (139). The display of enemies was essential: “Before the Romans... Read more

Commuting and Community

Last updated on: January 5, 2018 at 4:33 am By Peter Leithart

George Monbiot (Out of the Wreckage) points out that both our travel to work and our work itself undermines community: “The activities that once brought us together now drive us apart” (60). People used to travel to work on buses and trains, but as public transport has declined and highway systems have expanded, “many have little choice but to travel by car.” Commuters aren’t merely physically separated from others who are heading to work; “when we drive, society becomes an... Read more

Musical Oath

Last updated on: January 5, 2018 at 4:29 am By Peter Leithart

After defeating the Cushite invader Zerah, Asa leads Judah in covenant renewal (2 Chronicles 15:8-15). The people assemble in Jerusalem, offer sacrifice, and enter a covenant to seek Yahweh with all their heart and soul, on pain of death. Verse 14 says that they made the oath “with a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with horns.” Music expresses and enhances the joy of the occasion (v. 15), Judah’s joy in their own oath-taking and God-seeking, their joy in... Read more

School of Resentment

Last updated on: January 5, 2018 at 4:27 am By Peter Leithart

Trust in the major institutions of modern society has declined dramatically over the past several decades. George Monbiot cites an Edelman Corporation survey of 28 countries that found that “fewer than 50 per cent of respondent now trust mainstream business, government, media and non-governmental organizations to ‘do what is right'” (Out of the Wreckage, 54-5). Monbiot admits that “there are plenty of reasons for the collapse in trust,” but devotes attention to “an issue that seldom features in political analysis .... Read more

From Freedom to Fascism

Last updated on: January 5, 2018 at 4:26 am By Peter Leithart

Robert Kuttner’s NYRB review of Gareth Dale’s Karl Polanyi: A Life on the Left highlights Polanyi’s relevance to contemporary global politics and economics. Kuttner observes that the “period between the two world wars, free-market liberals governing Britain, France, and the US tried to restore the pre–World War I laissez-faire system. They resurrected the gold standard and put war debts and reparations ahead of economic recovery. It was an era of free trade and rampant speculation, with no controls on private capital. The... Read more

Scattering and Gathering

Last updated on: December 28, 2017 at 10:28 pm By Peter Leithart

The Chronicler gathers all Israel – indeed, a cross section of ancient humanity – on the opening pages of his chronicle. The genealogy is a great, inter-generational qahal (assembly), and the Chronicler is the Qoheleth, the Gatherer. As soon as his story starts, though, Israel is being dispersed. Israel flees before the Philistines at the battle of Mount Gilboa (1 Chronicles 10:1) and when they see that Saul and his sons are dead they abandon their cities (10:7). Because of... Read more