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‘Rethinking the ‘banality of evil’ theory’ (Haaretz)
We think we understand how evil works, but are we using an outdated framework to conceptualise the nature of evil?
The time has come to reexamine Hannah Arendt’s thesis. Not all evil is banal, certainly not the kind that grips a nation with a sense of racial superiority. Israel is neither Nazi nor fascist or apartheid – but its current colonialist regime does bear a family resemblance with other evil regimes.
‘Shattered Dreams: Brazil’s Olympic-Sized Political Headache’ (Spiegel)
What caused the chaos in Brazil, and can the country lurch forward enough to save the games?
It was a magical moment when Rio was awarded the games in the fall of 2009. While the rest of the world was sliding into a major economic crisis, people lay in each other’s arms on Copacabana Beach. A little later, the Economist depicted the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio on its cover as a rocket about to take off. The image became a symbol of the fact that Brazil had finally joined the club of the world’s biggest economic powers. Millions of people had risen from poverty to join the middle class. Hunger was on the decline, as was the number of people who couldn’t read or write.
Tokyo, Seoul haggle over use of ‘comfort women’ money; victims on verge of accepting deal (Japan Times)
The bitter battle over recognising the suffering of comfort women in the Second World War wages on.
But the Japanese side does not like the idea, as cash handouts could be regarded as compensation. By limiting use of the fund, Tokyo wants to protect its position that the issue of war-related compensation between the two countries has been fully resolved, the sources said.
‘Think the north and the poor caused Brexit? Think again’ (The Guardian)
Brexit critics may be attributing the vote to the wrong factors.
The prevailing assumption is that the vote was one in the eye for metropolitan elites, and that the white working classes, the disenfranchised and unheeded, the voters hidden on estates, had finally given a message to the Westminster bubble that knew nothing and cared less about their concerns. In fact, most leave voters were in the south: the south-east, south-west – indeed the entire south apart from London voted leave.
As Northern Nigeria begins to rebuild (The Africa Report)
Nigeria is facing a lengthy recovery from the depredations of Boko Haram — and it’s not over yet.
After five years of military attacks, with some 28,000 lives lost and 2.8 million people chased from their homes in the Lake Chad Basin, Boko Haram is in retreat. Under fire from Nigeria’s reorganised military, the rebels launch far fewer attacks, but often now with suicide bombers on soft targets such as marketplaces.
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Photo: Martinak15/Creative Commons