Are the old ways better?
What is lost when traditions like turf cutting disappear? What should be done when tradition runs
against ecology?
Sunday, September 17, 2023
Sod Codger
That is where it is, so that is where I have to go...
Do you understand the draw of a particular geographic
location for spiritual or personal reasons?
Might the danger in this case be part of the appeal? To what extent should pilgrimages be supported
by governments, NGOs and/or religious organisations? Have you ever gone on what you would
consider a pilgrimage?
Just the guy who sells you groceries or an economic exploiter?
We often think of racism as something between whites and
minorities, but what if it is between two minority groups? What may be the causes
of such racial conflict? Is it a legacy of colonialism for example? What can be done to help ease tensions when one
group has economic advantages? Is the
author right in claiming that organisations who help certain religious and
ethnic groups defend their interests can make the situation worse?
Headbangers
What is the appeal of dangerous sports, for atheletes and
for spectators? Can such sports be made
safer? Would you discourage those you
care about from participating in such sports?
Who is responsible when a player is repeatedly injured? To bring this closer to home, do the same
concerns apply to hockey?
Librarians as superheros
This is the last entry you can comment on by mid-October...
This article seems to side strongly with librarians and against parents and community members who would like to restrict what is found on library shelves. Who should decide and on what basis in terms of which books are selected and/or culled? Are school libraries any different from community libraries in this regard? What do you think about the changing role of the librarian? Are you interested in such a career?
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
No more Mr. Bad Guy
This article actually consists mostly of a transcript of a conversation about the recent Pixar film Turning Red, which is currently showing in Slovak cinemas (dubbed of course). While it may help to have watched the film, you can easily comment on the trends which this film exhibits without having seen it. What do you think about the fact that fewer of these animated films for children have an evil villain at their center or that more of them are about the immigrant experience? What effect might these trends have on the new generation that has grown up watching films like this?
Big Bill Bruising
It seems to
me that this article from New Zealand might not reflect how Slovaks see this
issue. What do you do when you go to a
restaurant with others and need to figure out who pays what? What do you think of the author's
recommendations? (By the way, I think the Friends
clip serves as a good illustration of this situation.)
Taking the Fast Track
This is a seasonally appropriate article given that Catholics have just gone through Lent and Muslims are still in Ramadan, but it also covers political and medical implications of fasting. What are the advantages and possible disadvantages of fasting? Do you fast, have you fasted, or would you ever consider fasting?
Precolonial Multiculturalism
Here is a
history article for a change. Was early
modern Europe more multi-racial and multi-cultural than people imagine or
admit? Does this apply to only Western
Europe or could it apply to places further east as well (see Pushkin's great-grandfather
for example)? Does European history as
taught in school take this presence into account or even mention it? If it is
true, as is often claimed, that racism became official or crystallised as a
justification for colonialism and the slave trade, is the author correct in
advocating more awareness of an African presence in early modern Europe to help
combat racism and the idea of a purely white Europe? This article is mainly
based on the travels of Zaga Christ, but to get a sense of the evidence for the
larger argument being made here, I would recommend that you click on some of
the hyperlinks (which you can also refer to in your comment).
What your kids might want
This is the
last entry you can comment on for the month of April.
Does the
author just use her (future) children as an excuse to hoard? Are you a hoarder? On the other hand, have
you ever regretted throwing something out?
How important is it to keep objects in order to keep a connection to our
past? Does a wealthy capitalist culture
tend to encourage throwing away things to buy new ones, or does it tend to encourage
hoarding by promoting the purchase of more space?
Thursday, March 10, 2022
Boys will be boys, but should they?
Here is an
article written for the occasion of International Women’s Day, but it’s not
about women. How important do you think
the education of boys is in terms of fighting discrimination against women? Do you agree that gender expectations can be
even more oppressive for boys than they are for girls? What has been your experience of how gender
norms are taught and enforced and how they can be combated?
If you’re black, get back. If you’re brown, turn around...
Has the
conflict in the Ukraine and how it is covered by the media revealed biases in who
the West (and Slovaks in particular) are concerned about and feel compassion
for? Is empathy often conditioned by
racism and other factors?
Night takes Queen (or will soon...)
The title
of this article is a bit deceptive since it is more focused on various
aspects of the monarchy in the UK rather than speculations as to what happens
once the Queen is no longer among us. Do
you agree that having royalty is about having a story and a subject of
gossip? Are they simply figures to
project our own desires, resentments and values upon? What are the advantages of royalty? How would Slovakia look with royalty? Or do we already have something that serves a similar
function? Caputova?
Money makes the world go down
Is making
concerns about the economy and wealth paramount over other concerns destroying
our health and the environment? How does
this issue manifest itself in a Slovak context as compared to an American
(or more specifically a Hoosier)
context? What can be done on an
individual, social and/or political level to make sure that profit does not become
the only factor in making decisions?
The subject of Fico’s dissertation
This is the last entry you can comment on for the month of March.
What do you
think about how India’s law is worded? Can
capital punishment ever be justified, even for the most heinous crimes? Is it inevitable that who gets executed is
influenced by racism, nationalism and other biases?
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