French President François Hollande has decided that France is going into Mali. The nation of Mali has, in the last year, descended into civil war. The war in Mali has received relatively little mainstream media coverage and many westerners are, to our collective shame, unaware of what has been going on there and the role their own governments have played in creating the war. Today I would like to examine the Malian Civil War, its causes, the present state of affairs, and the ethics of intervening in it.
Tag: politics
Rising Sun: Japan Leads the Way
Only a few weeks ago, Shinzo Abe, leader of Japan’s centre-right Liberal Democratic Party and a noted nationalist, became prime minister for the second time. Abe has a reputation for militarism and for a revisionist attitude toward Japan’s conduct during World War II. Yet, despite those shortcomings, I am here to praise Abe today, to provide one of those rare posts about something genuinely positive that is happening right now in the world in Japan. Abe has decided to do what so many countries in the west are afraid to do–he has decided to embark upon a policy of stimulus. I’d like to look at precisely what Abe has proposed, what it can be expected to do for Japan, and what sort of lessons it has the potential to teach the rest of us.
Denarius Ex Machina
As the United States approaches yet another debt ceiling fight, an interesting idea has surfaced that might allow the whole mess to be circumnavigated altogether–the minting of a trillion dollar super coin. There are a few things to examine with regard to this proposal–why are we considering it, can it be done, what consequences would it have, and what are the possible alternatives?
How to End Corruption
It is often said that corruption is just a part of politics, that nothing can be done about it, because all people are vulnerable to corruption. Power, it’s said, corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. These notions are bandied about, but not, in my view, well-considered. It is not as if one day a perfectly wholesome individual gains political power and then, as if by some dark magic, corruption ensues. There are factors that bring corruption about, sources of it, if you will. If we were to target these sources, I venture to say that we could, if not end corruption, substantially reduce its incidence.
The Fiscal Cliff: Stepping Back From the Abyss
A couple days later than perhaps would have made a decent show, Congress managed to slap together a stop-gap and avert the economic catastrophe that the CBO projected would have resulted from the fiscal cliff. So let’s get to business–what does the cliff deal do, and where does this leave us going forward?
Continue reading “The Fiscal Cliff: Stepping Back From the Abyss”
Benjamin Studebaker 