world-v-you-blog

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Liberal Democracy, 9 – Eternal Vigilance

“The price of democracy is eternal vigilance.” – Attributed to Thomas Jefferson If Thomas Jefferson indeed coined this oft-quoted aphorism, he literally spoke better than he knew at the time. The Declaration of Independence, which he largely penned, cited the equality of “all men”: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator…

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The roots of our present culture wars go back as far as the 12th Century. Find out why.

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Liberal Democracy, 7 – Diversity and Inclusion, 1

This week’s post is a repeat of a previous one from March 2025, as a prelude to its continuation. diversity, n. Being diverse, unlikeness: different kind; variety [Middle English, French, Old French diversite(é) Latin diversitatem – The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1964. diversity … n. 1. the condition or quality of being diverse; variety. 2. a variety inclusion n. 1. the act of including…

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What Just Happened in Canada

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American Psyche, 4

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Two Visions of the Future

I am a Boomer. In 2025 in Canada I am not proud of it, but rather ashamed. The fundamental divide in Canadian society as we stand at the cusp of a new stage in our history, and perhaps on a wider scale in the west as a whole, is between two quite different worldviews of how things actually are and what needs to be done to “fix” our major problems. Beneath that is a disturbingly deep generational…

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Two Visions for the Future

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Dig a little deeper to understand the historical roots of the American Psyche.

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American Psyche, 3

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This post may help bring some in depth understanding to the present developments we are witnessing in the United States and its international relationships.

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American Psyche, 1

From the beginning, those who founded the United States of America have believed they were set apart among the nations. As the Biblical phrase has it, these American colonist envisaged “a city on a hill”, a “light of the world”, a special, “set-apart” (i.e. “holy” – for that is what the Biblical term means, “set apart by/for God”, dedicated to God) people, standing as a beacon before other…

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Liberal Democracy, 7 – Diversity and Inclusion, 1

diversity, n. Being diverse, unlikeness: different kind; variety [Middle English, French, Old French diversite(é) Latin diversitatem – The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1964. diversity … n. 1. the condition or quality of being diverse; variety. 2. a variety  inclusion n. 1. the act of including someone or something. 2. a.  the fact or condition of being included. b. an instance of this. c. a thing…

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The Rise of the West, 26 – Liberal Democracy, 6 – Equality and Equity

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of…

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The Rise of the West 25: Liberal Democracy, 5 - Justice

“Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” Reinhold Niebuhr, American theologian and leading 20th Century intellectual. We have been tracing the evolution of liberal democracy in the West from the High Middle Ages to the present. We have noted that, in so far as we know, the emergence of this singular form of civilization…

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The Rise of the West, 24 – Liberal Democracy, 4

(Image – The House of Commons meets in 1793 – Credit: Alamy) In our last episode, we recounted the effects of the Bubonic Plague (Black Death) on Europe and, very cursorily, Asia. By 1400, 50 years after the subsidence of the Plague’s worst depredations, the world population was nudging upwards and stood at perhaps 250 million, with Europe struggling to return to 40 million. One hundred years…

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The Rise of the West, 23 – Liberal Democracy, 3

(Image credit: Science) This episode continues our discussion of how the West came to be what it is. The Europe of 1360 was greatly changed from that of 1340. It is estimated that 30-50% of the continent’s population (perhaps as many as 35 million) had died from the Black Death – Bubonic Plague. From Poland to Spain whole districts had been utterly depopulated. Towns had been wiped out. Major…

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The Christmas Child

The Christmas Child © Vince Marquis, Dec. 17, 2024 Whatever else be said hope is not yet dead for this the Christ Child came two thousand years ago pierced through the wall so dark to shine light and restore the stricken world so stark enslaved to hate and death. Such a tale – born as a babe to nobodies in a cave lived such a life by choice to speak for those sans voice to stand for…