In his seminal book Bomb Power, author Garry Wills argues that America’s use of the atomic bomb against Japan marked a critical turning point in global politics. With the advent of enormous nuclear stockpiles and the seemingly endless Cold War, the Pentagon argued that the President of the United States would simply not have the […]
For centuries opera was dominated by larger-than-life characters: legendary gods and goddesses, mythical figures from ancient Greece and Rome, kings and queens. But as opera became an ever more popular form of entertainment, that model began to change. The operatic form continued to evolve during the post-Romantic period. Composers began turning to stories about simpler, […]
Fascism is an easy enough tag to apply to current political trends; but it is not a fully appropriate label. America has been slowly morphing into something else over the past fifty-plus years. The super-rich now own the vast majority of wealth, income, and most of the shares in publicly traded companies, including the 6 […]
America’s public school system has been a failure because of a successful 30-year GOP effort to de-fund the system in favor of private and charter schools. The purpose of this policy was always to destroy the learning environment of the students, and extinguish the average child’s innate desire to explore and learn. This indoctrination – […]
The city of Los Angeles looms large in Beatles folklore. Outside of London and Liverpool, no other place has influenced the Beatles more than the sprawling metropolis of L.A. Ringo Starr still lives there with his movie-star wife Barbara Bach. They own two residences: one in Silver Lake, and another in Malibu. John Lennon spent most […]
Feudalism is arguably the most important and recognizable characteristic of Medieval life. Feudalism was a form of political and social organization which evolved from the dissolution of Charlemagne’s empire and the rise of absolute monarchies. Feudalism remains the common model of European society in the Middle Ages. Urban life for most citizens declined significantly after […]
The unique character of ancient Greek civilization can be attributed to several factors: synthesis, adaptation and constant improvement are recurrent themes in ancient Greek society. It was a fluid, constantly evolving yet relatively stable world. The Greeks created a distinctive culture which subsequent civilizations admired and copied: one based on logic, reason, and the exaltation […]
According to scholars, the key elements associated with a ‘civilization’ generally include the following requirements: cities and a system of government; creation of enforceable laws; formalized religion; social stratification; specialization of labor; writing and record keeping; comprehension of mathematical principles; engineering; metallurgy; and support for the arts. Each of these inter-related criteria is vital to […]
Hegemonic institutions pervade our culture, as diverse agendas are presented and reinforced by different cultural structures throughout society. It is important to recognize these power structures and the dominant ideals they represent in our everyday lives. James Lull’s famous essay Hegemony defines the subject as, “The power or dominance that one social group holds over […]
Much of Europe was devastated by the “Black Death” during the late Middle Ages: The Bubonic Plague wiped out approximately two-thirds of the population on the continent. Urban areas in Northern Europe were severely depopulated. However, some Italian city-states like Venice, Milan and Ferrara managed to survive the times virtually intact, due primarily to their relative […]
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