I have been asked why I intersperse political entries with narrowly philosophical ones. But in every case the question was put to me by someone who tilts leftward. If my politics were leftist, would anyone complain? Probably not. Academe and academic philosophy are dominated by leftists, and to these types it seems entirely natural that one should be a bien-pensant lefty. Well, I'm here to prove otherwise. Shocking as it will seem to some, leftist views are entirely optional, and a bad option at that.
I could of course post my political thoughts to a separate weblog. Now a while back I did effect such a segregation, sending my political rants and ruminations to my Facebook page, so that MavPhil, now in its 20th year, might hew apolitically to the philosophical straight and narrow. I might have continued had the Facebook bums not gone on a phishing expedition: they demanded my smart phone number to set up two-factor authentication, "for my protection." Pure bullshit, of course; FB is not a venue for which one needs such protection. I refused to hand over my smartphone number and so the FB bums blocked me. No loss; I have backups of everything I posted there of value. FB is pretty much of a joke in any case: a site for endless 'selfies,' what-I-had-for-dinner, and other displays of narcissism. And the comments I received there were of little or no value.
Posting the political to a separate weblog would also violate my 'theory' of blogging. My blog is micro to my life's macro. It must accordingly mirror my life in all its facets as a sort of coincidentia oppositorum of this situated thinker's existence: Sitz im Leben (Dilthey) – θεατής όλων των εποχών και της ύπαρξης (Plato).
Philosophy is hard enough without being done in a police state, which is what our once great republic is becoming if it hasn't already become. Do you deny the fact, or say you don't care? Then then I have a message for you.