The Communist and the Buddhist

[Nikolay] Valentinov … recorded his shock at Lenin’s certainty not only that Marx and Engels were absolutely correct, but that no fundamental principle they enunciated, about anything, could ever be changed.  “Nothing in Marxism is…

Students/2

Before Class In the School of Revolutionary Mindfulness When students arrive early to class No smart phones are anywhere to be seen In the minutes before class begins Students and teachers are sitting Breathing calmly…

Marxism Is Dead; Long Live Marx

Marxism is a curious notion like Freudianism. These are, in my opinion, forms of organized religion, which treat individuals as gods, or maybe idols. In disciplines that have passed beyond the most primitive stage, there…

For All My Friends Who Are Free Spirits

“What is now proved was once only imagin’d.” –William Blake Free Spirits desire the emancipation of all humankind Free Spirits conceive a habitable, harmonian world Free Spirits know that no revolution has gone far enough…

Thesis 11, Still

One reader of an early draft of Dear Layla Welcome to Palestine Wrote me with characteristic candor: “Damn you! It fucking hurt to read this book And thank you! It was the final push I…

The Work Is Never Done

Dear Abbie and Liz, Given your love for theology, I thought I’d share the following reflections on someone you should at least be acquainted with.  His name is Helder Camara, former archbishop of Recife, Brazil…

Exit-Interview

She’s spent four years at SLU And is moving on I’ve spent fourteen years at SLU And am moving on We had class together fall 2008 Her tender sophomore year We’ve met ten or twelve…