My Favourite Art Works

(not in any order)


1. Chagall Windows at the Hadassah Medical Center (Chagall)
2. Starry Night (Van Gogh)
3. Liberty Leading the People (Delacroix)
4. Tennis Court Oath (David)
5. Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (Michelangelo)
6. Last Supper (Da Vinci)
7. Persistence of Memory (Dali)
8. Bathers (Cezanne)
9. Luncheon of the Boating Party (Renoir)
10. Salon at the Rue des Moulins (Toulouse Lautrec)
11. Guernica (Picasso)
12. The Second of May 1808 (Goya)
13. A Few Small Nips (Kahlo)
14. Women and Birds at Sunrise (Miro)
15. Symbolic Landscape (Riviera)
16. Coronation of Napoleon (David)
17. Laughing Cavalier (Hals)
18. Dream caused by the Flight of a Bee around a Pomegranate a Second before Wakening up
(Dali)
19. The Models (Seurat)
20. Two Tahitian Women (Gaugin)
21. Night Watch (Rembrandt)
22. Cafe Terrace at Night (Van Gogh)

Star Wars is Evil

I grew up in the generation that Star Wars was custom made for. At the age of eight I remember sitting with my jaw at ground level, mouth drooling, fixated on a universe that was simply unbelievable. If I had been moved to a utopia, this was it. That was then. My enthusiasm continued as I submerged myself in the Empire Strikes Back and the trilogy’s concluding episode Return of the Jedi.

 Years later when Lucas released these three with a few modifications I sat through them again with a healthy nostalgia. Jedi had taken over from a New Hope as my personal favourite and Empire seemed a slightly less disjointed than the time that I saw it as a kid. However the series had dropped remarkably in my overall esteem, the magic was tarnished and I couldn’t believe how insipid both the plot lines and acting were.

Of course I was of an older age – one cannot dismiss that variable – but compared to the Science Fiction of the British Comic World – Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper – not to mention the alternative Blade Runner or other Dystrophic films, Star Wars looked remarkably inferior - at least by a parsec or two. In fact it was downright awful. I watched the prequels (hoping for a broader salvation) but loathed all three. The third was particularly bad and I cursed the fact that I had been duped, even at a young age by Lucas’ space odyssey of junk. 

Alec Guinness, who played Obi-Wan, was dismissive of Star Wars in his personal writing and rightfully so. The series was a gigantic con job, that used the brilliance of special effects to hide its glaring flaws. Nothing of substance emerges from the Star Wars – it is a massive cliché but worse than that is morally questionable something the masses who bathe in its sub-culture almost never admit.

 In A New Hope, Darth Vader carries out an unspeakable genocide, the destruction of the planet Alderaan. I remember even as a kid being shocked by that. Lets put this in context for a second – History is replete with its evil despots – Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot – all of them carried out massive genocides but none of them destroyed a planet and all of its inhabitants….not even close. Yet Vader does this in a matter of minutes… and we are exposed to it as a matter-of-fact. Of course its part of the story but get this …once Vader comes clean and has the dark side’s hold over him broken (in Jedi)..we are now supposed to cheer for this villain, sympathize with him as he takes his place alongside Obi-Wan and Yoda in the pantheon of Jedi.

 In fact Luke Skywalker ceremonially honours this genocidal lunatic in a funeral ceremony…Talk about turning your back on evil….What about all his victims? Was this monster not responsible for destruction in the billions (a likely estimate range for planetary populations)? But Lucas wants us to forget this because he (Vader) did the honourable ‘thing’ and saved his son. Frikkin Hell…story or no story!…fiction or not!…Does this not show how morally decrepit Lucas’ universe is? 

Now one could argue that I am wasting too much bytes on this line of thought (ink is so 20th century) …but unfortunately the Star Wars super meme has infected our collective conscious in a manner that is extremely pervasive… Kids know more about such asinine lines… as ‘I am your father Luke’ and ‘Use the force’ than the words of Churchill, Schweitzer or King. Adults dress up in Vader costumes…and when questioned about this will retort with a line such as Vader is the ‘ultimate bad ass’….which begs the next question where does that leave Genghis Khan who ‘only’ redrew the face of Eurasia?…A third-tier bad ass perhaps. 

Ideas drive action and Lucas has a twisted calculus that he has sold to the rest of us. Disney and Lego will of course further entrench this nonsense in the next generation’s mind set. It’s a further statement on the sad reality of a truism that we overlook as we amuse ourselves to oblivion. 

What role did French philosophers play in the French Revolution?

My answer on Quora.

everal Important Philosophers spring to mind when discussing the French Revolution.

Voltaire -Influenced the anti-clericism of the revolution. Championed John Locke’s philosophy in the “Letters concerning the English Nation” (the notion of the Free Individual). This was called”the first bomb hurled against the “Old Regime”. Voltaire was a strong supporter of the radical English ideas of Liberty (now known as Classical Liberalism).

Baron Montesqueu - Favored a constitutional monarchy like England (which was essentially the tone of the first part of the Revolution). A nobleman himself he believed in a progressive and responsible nobility. His most famous work was “The Spirit of the Laws”

Denis Diderot - Champion of the Encyclopédie project along with Jean d’Alembert. Concerived nature as a creative process, stressed change and relativity of culture. Opponent of Bourgeois conformism. Favoured secularization of knowledge and a belief in science.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Father of the Romantic Movement. His writing concerning the Noble Savage (a longing for the Primitive) and the Social Contract impacted the Jacobins in particular. Emphasized the General Will and the need for the individual to subjugate themselves to the Collective, This would have dangerous consequences in the Reign of Fear but would become the dominant philosophy in the period from 1792–94. Views were to a great extent the antithesis of John Locke’s.

Other key philosophical ideas that impacted the Revolution from the Enlightenment were the notions that

1. Man is not innately depraved
2. The purpose of life was life itself not the after-life
3. Humanity had to be freed from ignorance and superstition
4. Progress and perfection is possible with individual liberty
5. All is interconnected through a type of benevolent Providence

How successful was democracy in post WWII Germany?

My answer on Quora.

his all depends on what Germany you are talking about . In West Germany (1949–1990) it was largely successful as a consequence of the pro-free market (less regulation intense) policies that came to define the Wirtschaftswunder (Economic Miracle) after WWII. These were engineered by Konrad Adenauer and his economic minister Ludwig Erhard and preceded the formation of the Common Market in 1957. The Economic Miracle provided the necessary foundation to allow the young West German democracy to thrive. West Germany would grow into the Fourth largest economy in the world.

Besides its role in the European Coal and Steel community (the forerunner of both the Common Market and the EU) West Germany also played a vital part in NATO. It took a fairly tough line against Communism (although this moderated with Ostpolitik) despite the actions of Far-Left wing terrorist groups such as the Red Army Faction (RAF) and the Baader-Meinhof Gang.

A feature of West Germany worth noting is the relative stable governments compared to other coalition style governments on the continent. There were only six chancellors between 1949 and 1990 with power flipping (for the most part) between center-left and center-right groupings.

East Germany on the other hand was never a democracy. It used the term in its name but was essentially an authoritarian communist state that served as a puppet of the Soviet Union.

The Unified Germany today has its challenges. The biggest of these is the fall of the birth rate, the integration of refugees and migrants in the country and the crisis of will that seems to have engulfed most of Western Europe at present. On a positive note it continues to be the economic driver in the EU and is a stable democracy for now.

Western History 98: What was the Dutch Golden Age?

The Dutch Republic existed from 1581 to 1795 and comprised the territories of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.  The early elements of the republic was recognized by the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, as part of the Pragmatic Sanction but it was the Act of Abjuration (1581) that saw the provinces of the Netherlands declare independence from Philip II of Spain.

The Dutch Revolt (1568-1648) would see the Protestant Provinces break finally with the Spanish Empire (supported by the Holy Roman Empire) with the Treaty of Munster (1648) making this separation final.

As an era the Dutch Republic is regarded as a Golden Age in Dutch history. A confederation brought together the seven provinces who sent representatives to States General in the Hague. A Stadtholder officially headed the government with William of Orange serving as the First Stadtholder. The House of Orange would dominate Dutch politics. However the Republic’s constitution was very liberal and is believed to have influenced the framers of the US Constitution.

Both the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Dutch West India Company (WIC) that played a key role in Dutch shipping, exploration, colonization and trade derived their authority from the States General. Dutch influence spread to South America, South East Asia, the Caribbean and Southern Africa.  The First Stock Exchange was born in the Dutch Republic in the city of Amsterdam and was later named the Amsterdam Bourse.

In art (Mannerism, the Delft School, Dutch baroque), women’s issues, religious freedom, theology and economics the Republic was considered a leader for its time. It benefited greatly from Renaissance Humanism and was tolerant of Jews and Huguenots fleeing Catholic persecution. In the Sciences the Republic produced such luminaries as Anton von Leeuwenhoek (inventor of the microscope) and Christian Huygens (father of the wave theory of light). The great justice Hugo Grotius was a product of the system as was Baruch de Spinoza and at a time the Republic offered residence to both Rene Descartes and John Locke.

What are your most important values as a Conservative or a liberal?

My answer on Quora

A a Classical Liberal my top ten would be

1. Belief in Freedom of thought, speech, expression and religion
2. The right to ownership of private property
3. Separation of Church and State
4. The State taking its authority from the people not the other way around
5. Equality before the Law
6. The right to defend oneself
7. Rule of Law
8. Individual Rights dominating group rights (actually I don’t see the need for group rights at all)
9. Equality of Opportunity not outcome
10. Necessary checks on government.

What was Hitler's reasoning behind the May 1940 order to stop his military short of actually taking Dunkirk?

My answer on Quora

There is a great deal of debate on this issue as it certainly provided the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) with the biggest let off in the war’s turbulent history.

To begin with the halt order itself was not issued directly by Hitler but came through Generals von Kluge and von Runstedt. It is believed that there was debate within the German High Command with both generals fearing an Allied counterattack (such as what happened at the Marne in 1914). There was also some suggestion that the German army was exhausted by the speed of its own advance and needed to rest.

Another general, von Brauschitsch had disagreed with the halt order and favored an immediate attack but Hitler appeared to have overruled him( von Brauschitsch was the Army’s Chief of Staff).

Some have suggested that Hitler was intending to give an olive branch to Churchill but an analysis by the German historian Karl Heinz Friedser makes the case that this was not the fact the reason and that Hitler was instead using the occasion to make it clear to the Army that he was indeed the Supreme Commander.

Of interest is that the attack did resume on the 26th of May 1940 (two days after the original halt order) but by this stage the success of Operation Dynamo (the mass evacuation from Dunkirk) had negated the strategic advantage of this later move.