I don't know why Camus is so often thought of a fiction writer. He wrote some pretty serious philosophy as well. It's like calling Plato a writer of fiction.
I'm particularly a fan of The Rebel. His Letters to a German Friend are pretty interesting too.
I know. I was just adding extra info.
not sure if it’s more absurd
May I introduce you to my buddy Camus?
Fact is, it's an important work for historical reasons. If you want to understand how Nazism works, and how it differs from Italian fascism, and be able to draw the lines that connect Nazis to historical German (and other nationalities) anti-Semitism, you need to read it.
If I had a copy, I wouldn't put it on display, but it is the kind of thing I can totally see being assigned in a college course on WW2 or some similar topic.
NB: I've only read a few excerpts for a class similar to the one I described above.
Also, I am against book burning in any circumstance. A book is never worth more as kindling, unless you're actually freezing and then it would be a hard choice.
I've seen some real ones in Ireland. It's literally a door, with something like an elevator shaft behind it. That's all. Pretty terrifying idea for a 16 year old.
Dan Savage pointed out in his podcast yesterday that in interwar Berlin, lgbtq-whatever-else-we-add-now people were more free than any time since probably ancient Rome before the Christian period.
It took about 3 years of Hitler in power to start shipping those people off to the camps. They still haven't really recovered.
No, the Revolution got rid of the monarchy and neutered the clergy and nobility, but it was an urban revolution of the Parisian middle class, or bourgeoisie. The situation of the peasants changed little through the revolution, and it was persistent efforts of the bourgeoisie to impose Parisian culture on the countryside. It took until WW1 to construct a coherent French nation. Weber (not that Weber) showed that in Peasants into Frenchmen in the 70s.
And Napoleon had family connections in the Italian nobility. His uncle was a cardinal. His father was a lawyer and inherited a fair chunk of change. Napoleon was hardly any sort of peasant.
It was the bourgeois that win in France, not the peasants.
I played that video game. I'm signing up with the mercs in that case.
I agree that college should be publicly funded, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards. Even CA, where college tution-free is in the state constitution, has found ways to get tens of thousand of dollars out of even residents in "fees."
Because fees aren't tuition, apparently.
I've been involved in higher ed for a long time, and I don't know anyplace where government funding for college or university is increasing. Even the free CC idea seems to be a non-starter.
I doubt very much that a president can pardon himself. If he could, why did no one, not even Nixon, who just won reelection, not use that power in over 200 years? Why not suspend Congress and govern by executive order? I mean, it violates the Constitution to prevent Congress critters from participating in a legislative session except in cases of Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, but who cares? The President can self-pardon! Lock them all up if they're being a pain in the ass.
It would completely upend the rule of law. Not even this clown car of a Supreme Court would allow that.
It's pretty unlikely to get two more terms of a democratic presidency. Biden wasn't VP when he won. The last VP to be elected was Bush 1. Before him, LBJ, special circumstances. Truman, also special circumstances. That takes us back nearly 100 years.
Maybe if Kamala were to step aside we could get a governor as the nominee, but that seems unlikely even though governors have better records in presidential elections. Biden didn't run when he was VP, but I don't remember another VP that stepped away from the ticket voluntarily.