We tend to think of the problems of globalization and cultural identity as peculiar to our times. In fact they are rooted in ancient problems of civic belonging.

Tyranny is abhorrent, freedom benefits all, whereas violence benefits no one for long.

We are capitalism made flesh.

Our desires are never wholly transparent, even to ourselves.

All social space is suffused with political meanings and agendas, the very stones and walls a kind of testament to the ongoing struggles for liberation and justices.

War is smaller in scale than in recent memory, but it is far more ambiguous, intractable, and nasty. Money flows more quickly than ever, but it is still somehow manages to gather and puddle in certain places, for certain people rather then others.

Politics is rather the creation of the best possible polity out of the deep inner needs of its citizenry - who are only some of its members.