Daily Office: Tuesday
¶ Matins: Aren’t economists great? Now they tell us: “Recession Began Last December, Economists Say.”
¶ Tierce: Pankaj Mishra’s Op-Ed piece, “Fresh Blood From an Old Wound,” throws another log on the fire for resolving territorial disputes, some of which are older than most people alive today. Tibet, Palestine, Kashmir — these vexing contests between arrogant sovereignties and fierce patriots clearly require a unified focus. In their details, these problems differ greatly, but their consequences in the greater world are dismayingly similar. We need a permanent UN Commission to deal with territorial disputes (perhaps there already is one!), or at least to provide a forum for discussing them.
¶ Vespers: George was there: on the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Harvey Milk, George Snyder sat in a theatre in the Castro and watched Sean Penn impersonate the slain civil rights leader.
Oremus…
§ Matins. But they only whispered about it. They were still afraid of Uncle Alan.
Close the B-Schools, today!
§ Tierce. Territorial integrity is obviously a primary concern for every government; that’s what makes powerful leaders so tenacious. It is equally obvious, however, that governments are worse than ineffective when they are seen as invalid by local populations.
The modern nation-state is built all too largely on shaky ideas about “nationality,” “race,” and doubtful historic claims. A few quiescent challenges to current arrangements: Flanders, Cyprus, Catalonia. Let’s not forget Corsica! Not so quiescent: Kurdistan.
(Of the three states that would lose territory to a prospective Kurdistan, Iraq would give up the least. Bigger bites would come out of Iran and Turkey — much bigger in Turkey’s case.)
§ Vespers. As soon as I can find my head and screw it back on — it thinks that it’s still in St Croix — I’m going to see Milk.