A Fascinating BBC 4 In Our Time episode - a chat with Early American History profs about the 1780s - the fact that the US was not a nation and the forces that led to the Constitution. I had a remarkable American History teacher in the 11th grade who strayed from the syllabus to spend a fair amount of time on the period. About six years ago I audited a History course from Yale on the road to the Constitution... many things you don't realize. We spent a lot of time on Federalist 10 and Federalist 78. Much of what the courts do is not in the Constitution (like being able to declare something unconstitutional, but is something argued for in 78. Much of the papers are grey areas, which is what the "originalists" like to play. In any event this is a great 50 minute discussion on the subject.
on china
A New Yorker piece by Evan Osnos on where China is, how it got here and where it may be going.
snip
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China’s present troubles are about far more than the economy. Four decades after Deng and his peers put their country on a path of “reform and opening up,” his successors have reversed course, in politics and in culture. For ordinary Chinese citizens, that reversal is as jarring as it would have been for American homesteaders if the U.S. had retreated from the frontier. Joerg Wuttke, the president emeritus of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, who has lived there for more than thirty years, told me, “China always had comeback stories. But not now.” He recalled addressing a roomful of students at Peking University: “I said, ‘Who among you is optimistic?’ It was one-third—which means two-thirds are pessimistic at the best university in China. There’s this feeling of ‘What are we here for?’ ”
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05:32 in Current Affairs, General Commentary, history | Permalink | Comments (0)