Donald Trump is not an American phenomenon, solely an American phenomenon. We see Trumps emerging all across the West, all across Europe—Western Europe and Eastern Europe. And they are repeating themselves in very similar ways.
The Nexus Institute (Page 1 of 3)
Political Culture, Donald Trump and Education
presented by Anne Applebaum, Derek Shearer, Jeb Bush, Sean Wilentz, Roger Berkowitz
There’s always been this strain, particularly in American politics, a skepticism about politicians. We’re in one of these periods where there is such skepticism, but it runs deeper.
Is the USA the world’s last best hope?
presented by Sidney Blumenthal
Lincoln spoke of the United States as the last best hope on earth because the United States was the last, and only, and first, successful Democratic Republic in the world.
I have known Hillary for almost thirty years. And I hope that when this conference takes place, she’s been elected president. We share common values, political values. But also I think that these are deeply rooted in our own personal experiences. And these values we’ve defended against all sorts of people who have used whatever means that they could, many of them underhanded, in order to try and destroy reputations, attack people personally, to engage in what we’ve called the politics of personal destruction, but for political advantage and gain.
The Divided States of America
presented by Jeb Bush, Randall Kennedy, Roger Berkowitz, Rob Riemen, Sean Wilentz
I think there’s a great deal of naiveté about how politics actually works. And this is where either wing—the Trump wing or the Sanders wing—don’t understand how politics actually works in Washington.
Liberalism in the Anthropocene
presented by Michael Ignatieff
This emerging narrative of catastrophe is putting enormous pressure on all our political beliefs. Now there’s still some conservative parties, some US Republicans for example, who deny the basic facts, but we can be pretty sure I think that any politics that denies the facts doesn’t have much of a future.
How Should We Do Politics?
presented by Celeste Marcus, Flavia Kleiner, Intissar Kherigi, Joan Magrané Figuera, Rob Riemen, Wojtek Wieczorek
I think that politics has always been susceptible to conversion so that it’s not actually about living people it’s about signaling membership within a particular community.
What is the Sickness of Our Times?
presented by Nadine Labaki, Pamela Paul, Leon Wieseltier, Sari Nusseibeh
There are these two basic fundamental fears, these ur-fears that are rippling through our societies. The first is the fear of complexity, and the second is the fear of change.
What is the Value of Culture?
presented by Leon Wieseltier, Edoardo Albinati, Nadine Labaki, Pamela Paul, Rob Riemen
In America now, you can defend the humanities but only on economic grounds. So a theater improves a neighborhood. Or many people who study English become McKinsey consultants. But the fact is that you do it for itself, intrinsically, and you do it for the cultivation of the person and the cultivation of the citizen. Which should be reward enough.
Nihilism and Human Nature: Good or Bad?
presented by Edoardo Albinati, Leon Wieseltier, Nadine Labaki, Rob Riemen
I’m very diffident towards values, any kind of. Because you know, values can be very dangerous. And as the poem of Yeats says, the passionate intensity in believing in something can be very dangerous.