The Troika and the House of Cards It Built

Three years after the Great Market Meltdown, and only now it seems that some are finally taking stock of their own complicity in bringing about the fiasco. I guess that is why “thought” is always in the past tense.

Pride and Identity Politics

There is much exaggerated talk today of collective forms of “pride”. Gay pride, racial pride, national pride, etc are trumpeted in the streets through public marches, parades, and demonstrations.

Typically, such great public displays of pride only occur in the context of an equally deep-seated and pervasive sense of humiliation and distressed identity. In the case of gays and lesbians it is understandable how the attempt to recoup a sense of dignity and self-worth becomes socially enacted in pride parades, carnivals, and festivals of solidarity. It doesn’t detract from the fact, though, that such exaggerated public displays of pride arise from an undercurrent of wounded dignity and identity. And in that sense, such festivals can be healing and liberating.

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Sin and The System

The Cardinal or Capital Sins of the (Catholic) Christian moral code are seven in number and name. The same are called “The Seven Deadly Sins” and are presently identified as: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. These capital sins are further classified (depending upon the situation in which they are committed) as mortal sins or venial sins. Some sins have been added and some have been subtracted over time. But if you immerse yourself in the study of this code and the nature of these sins, you will emerge from it either totally confused, or a complete bundle of nerves.