While the focus of “Trapped in Silk Slippers” is not the NSS, and I do not think the failure to reference the new NSS drastically affects the post’s central arguments, I do want to take a moment to examine the 2025 NSS, partially in the context of my previous post, but also as an interesting document in its own right.
International Law and Moral Relativism
International law is increasingly twisted by moral relativism to protect dictators, terrorists, and other euphemistically-named “bad actors,” while constraining, censoring, and punishing democratic, law-abiding nations.
Sides of History
Legacy says more about the people doing the remembering than it does about the people or events being remembered, which is also true of things on the right or wrong side of history – such judgements say more about the people doing the judging than about what they are judging.
Trapped in Silk Slippers
Bemoaning the indulgence and laxity of the present in comparison to a more arduous, hardworking past is a time-honored tradition.
Systems, Morals, Rulers, and Rebels
When I shared that notion – that evil is a matter of mismatched expectations – with some colleagues in a conversation, they thought I was making a joke. It’s not intended as one. Indeed, it is a somewhat frightening, and certainly disconcerting, idea to countenance
Some Thoughts Concerning Golden Dome
My greatest concern with Golden Dome is not its technical feasibility, its geopolitical impact, or even its cost. It is that Golden Dome may prove a distraction from addressing the threats we are far more likely to face, and breed complacency in the process.
Fictional (Un)Just War Theory
A fantasy story I was reading recently which featured an alternative world setting and so forth, happened to mention war crimes. It presented this as natural and expected, except that the world-building did not support it.
Post Post-Scarcity
The answer to our human ills does not lie with limitless energy or a post-scarcity society. If anywhere, it lies within us.
Educational Omission
Despite categorizing many of my posts as ‘educational content,’ I rarely set out to teach you something in a rigorous fashion; instead, I am usually attempting to explicate a specific concept or idea, without providing full context or progressing through an entire topic.
A Not Unactive Post About George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language”
Orwell's essay on "Politics and the English Language" is among my most oft-cited pieces on language and writing, and its lessons and criticisms are as valid today as they were in 1946.
IGC Publishing 