The Star Wars Holiday Special and the Banality of Evil

Last updated on: December 31, 2015 at 12:57 am By Tom Swiss

But in the Holiday Special we see stormtroopers ransacking Chewbacca's family's home, throwing items off shelves to the floor and tearing apart a kid's stuffed toy in apparent glee. It's a scene that in the 1970s was meant to show the evil of the Empire, but to anyone who's studied the militarization of American policing over the past few decades it looks like a kinder and gentler version of how police routinely act today -- trashing the homes of citizens, not to actually catch criminals but to demonstrate the power of the state and keep the people properly cowed. Read more

The Gifts in Hotei’s Bag — And In Yours

Last updated on: December 17, 2015 at 12:58 am By Tom Swiss

We forget that the things we do are special, because they are ordinary to us. Read more

I Don’t Blame You For Being Scared of Guns

Last updated on: December 15, 2015 at 11:53 pm By Tom Swiss

Guns, in other words, are supposed to be scary. That's been the idea from the start. Now, if you happen to be behind the gun, using it to scare off or stop people intent on harming you or your family or your town or nation, this is a very good thing. It is the righteous fury of a wrathful deity, the power of Fudō-myōō "whose powers are of lava, of magma, of deep rock strata, of gunpowder, and the Sun," as Gary Snyder put it. Read more

Death and the Holidays

Last updated on: October 17, 2016 at 9:04 pm By Tom Swiss

We sat down to a very subdued Christmas dinner, during which the call came. Leonard Swiss was dead. I don't think I need to explain that this put a damper on the family holiday celebration for several years. Read more

In Praise of the Circular Argument

Last updated on: December 6, 2015 at 11:39 pm By Tom Swiss

On the other hand -- and here I freely admit that I am stepping out into thin air with no support, and may even be leaving philosophy being and falling into poetry -- what if we could make a circular argument large enough to encompass our entire experience of the world? Read more

Giving Credit

Last updated on: November 23, 2015 at 3:14 am By Tom Swiss

But there's something related and important that doesn't ask us to fake anything, something specific, founded on reason and facts that should always be acknowledged: credit. Read more

Gratitude, Schmatitude

Last updated on: November 23, 2015 at 3:10 am By Tom Swiss

If you’re feeling angry, grumpy, irritable, frustrated, or grief-stricken, then go ahead and honestly feel that way! I might suggest that you look at how these feelings arise, examine to what degree they are real and to what degree phantoms, but don’t paper over your emotions with false gratitude just because some “spiritual teacher” tells you that feeling one way is better than feeling another. Read more

Remembering “Sheriff Scott”

Last updated on: November 22, 2015 at 1:07 am By Tom Swiss

He had worked as a forensic anthropologist, a firefighter, an EMT, a bodyguard, a store manager, and a teacher, and he brought that diversity of experience to the work he did for our community. Read more

Horrible Events Have Causes

Last updated on: November 16, 2015 at 9:25 am By Tom Swiss

The anger may or may not be justified. The fear may or may not be rational. But it matters little to those slaughtered and maimed or to their families and friends, and so the survivors become angry and fearful and lash out, and the vicious cycle comes around again. And again. And again. Read more

Why Time Changes Matter

Last updated on: November 9, 2015 at 12:01 am By Tom Swiss

All of these time changes, from leap seconds to leap years, are reminders that we have to synchronize our human actions to the natural world, that as much as our industrial technological society tries to stand apart from the chaotic cycles of days and seasons it cannot do so. Read more