Month: November 2025

Big Brother, Freak U.S.A, Politics, Psychology, RightsLeave a comment

What We Talk About When We Talk About Authoritarianism

Fernando Kaskais

Getty Is the global state system in crisis, with authoritarianism, nationalism, populism, and illiberalism running amok? By: Matthew Wills  By 2020, “more countries had been classified as authoritarian regimes (‘autocracies’) than were transitioning to democracy,” writes political scientist Julian G. Waller, citing data from V-Dem, the Swedish research center that studies the varieties of democracy. So, is democracy on the ropes in the aftermath of post-Cold War American hegemony? “The age of democratization has plausibly ended; or, perhaps better framed, the edge and middle cases had all ended up failing to institutionalize the democratization process of the 1980s and 1990s,” writes Waller. Meanwhile, … Continue reading What We Talk About When We Talk About Authoritarianism

Art, In Portuguese, PhotographyLeave a comment

Dubai

Fernando Kaskais

FERNANDO KASKAIS O Dubai é onde um homem quiser, desde que haja Sol, uma palmeira e um muro pintado de branco, o resto não interessa. O Dubai é uma miragem, não são prédios milionários nem carros e barcos de luxo, pois o sítio onde isso se encontra era um deserto, ou melhor, é um deserto, e uma vez deserto, deserto para sempre, independentemente da trampa que lhe coloquem em cima. Mesmo que a trampa seja revestida a ouro e cravejada de diamantes. https://kaskaisphotos.wordpress.com/2025/11/08/dubai/ F. Kaskais Web Guru Continue reading Dubai

Future, History, Nuclear, Politics, WarLeave a comment

Humanity’s Endgame

Fernando Kaskais

Nicolas Ortega for Noema Magazine A new history of societal collapse by an expert in existential risk argues that our globalized society is edging toward the precipice. By Henry Wismayer – Henry Wismayer is a writer based in London. LONDON — There are 8 million artifacts in the British Museum. But to commence his tale of existential jeopardy, risk expert Luke Kemp made a beeline for just two items housed in a single room. On a visit in early fall, beyond a series of first-floor galleries displaying sarcophagi from pharaonic Egypt, we stopped beside a scatter of human bones. The exhibit comprised two of the … Continue reading Humanity’s Endgame

Buddhism, Media&Culture, Music, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

Facing the Music of Our Times with Metta

Fernando Kaskais

Billie Holiday at the Downbeat Club, a jazz club in New York City, February 1947. Image via William P. Gottlieb / Wikimedia Commons Tapping into African American wisdom through song By Kamilah Majied, PhD  “This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”—Toni Morrison, “No Place for Self-Pity, No Room for Fear” The twenty-fourth chapter of the Lotus Sutra is known as the Wonderful Sounds chapter. It is there that Shakyamuni Buddha introduces Bodhisattva … Continue reading Facing the Music of Our Times with Metta

AI, Future, Media&Culture, Psychology, ScienceLeave a comment

A Non-Transhumanist Vision for AI in Education

Fernando Kaskais

Image Credit: Juanrastock – Adobe Stock Bill Dembski describes this new approach as amounting to edification rather than enhancement William A. Dembski  This essay is adapted from the preface to a book I will be publishing later this year on the legacy of Jaime Escalante. The book is titled Defying Low Expectations: What Jaime Escalante Taught Us About Learning.  The story of Escalante’s success is widely remembered, at least in broad strokes: Escalante took a failing math program at East LA’s Garfield High, an inner city school whose students were poor and largely Hispanic, and transformed it into a math powerhouse that … Continue reading A Non-Transhumanist Vision for AI in Education

Literature, Media&Culture, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

On the State of Men and Reading

Fernando Kaskais

Valuable advice to students: Learn how to read deeply By Peter Biles – is the author of several books of fiction, including the story collection Last November. His stories and essays have appeared in The American Spectator, Plough, and RealClearBooks, among many others. He authors a literary Substack blog called Battle the Bard and writes weekly on trending news in technology and culture for Mind Matters. The data shows us that young men in America are struggling. Bereft of life purpose, they are gaming, binging on porn, isolating themselves from society, and overall, are giving up on life. Social scientists and authors like Scott Galloway have argued vehemently that the “war on … Continue reading On the State of Men and Reading

Media&Culture, Politics, Psychology, Rights, SexLeave a comment

Do Women Exist?

Fernando Kaskais

Lauren Harris of the United States competes in the William J. Pollinger USATF Women’s 1 Mile Race Walk during the 117th Millrose Games at The Armory Track on February 08, 2025 in New York City – Sarah Stier/Getty Images A group of distinguished philosophers tells the Supreme Court that the answer is yes by Daniel Kodsi Do girls and women have the right to their own spaces, services, and provisions? Are there any settings in which it is justified to separate girls and women from boys and men? More generally, is it ever legitimate to organize a social practice around … Continue reading Do Women Exist?

Health, Media&Culture, Philosophy, PsychologyLeave a comment

Power and flesh

Fernando Kaskais

From David Cronenberg’s film Crimes of the Future (2022). Courtesy Serendipity Point Films As struggles over the human body escalate, we should return to the work of cinema’s greatest anatomist: David Cronenberg By Travis Alexander – is assistant professor of English at Old Dominion University in Virginia, US. He is working on The Birth of Viropolitics, which explores the HIV/AIDS epidemic through a range of texts and media. What does government govern? What, in other words, is government the government of? The answer – at least in the West – has shifted over time. In the age of religion, kings and queens ruled over … Continue reading Power and flesh

Art, In Portuguese, PhotographyLeave a comment

Aquário

Fernando Kaskais

© FERNANDO KASKAIS Aqui o temos, um muro confundido com o tempo, sem esperar nada, sem pensar em nada, sem sentir nada, velho, mas pintado de novo, inerte, mas com um aquário e uma palmeira lá dentro à laia de peixinho vermelho que com a cabecita de fora tenta debicar uma nuvem. À noite quando me deito, sou como o muro, intemporal, deixo as horas na mesinha de cabeceira depois de tirar o tempo do pulso. O peixinho, esse, nada às voltas na minha cabeça, tentando debicar os meus sonhos. https://kaskaisphotos.wordpress.com/2025/11/01/aquario/ F. Kaskais Web Guru Continue reading Aquário

Corruption, Manipulation, Money, PoliticsLeave a comment

Ten Ways You’re Being Burned By Billionaires

Fernando Kaskais

Shutterstock Many Americans don’t realize it, but the decisions of billionaires shape every aspect of our lives. Here are just a few — and what we can do. By Chuck Collins I’ve spent my career highlighting the problems posed by extreme wealth. Not everyone buys it. “None of my problems exist as a result of someone else being a billionaire,” Greg B. recently wrote to me. The problem isn’t individual billionaires, I told Greg. It’s the system of laws, rules, and regulations tipped in favor of the wealthy at the expense of working folks. I wrote my new book, Burned by Billionaires, to help folks like … Continue reading Ten Ways You’re Being Burned By Billionaires