How Nations Weaponize Stories to Protect Fragile Identities

How Nations Weaponize Stories to Protect Fragile Identities

Nations, like individuals, can act narcissistically. They rewrite history, deny harm, and cast themselves as victims to shield fragile identities. From MAGA to Russia’s “historic destiny,” from Israel’s perpetual siege to Australia’s ANZAC myth, weaponized stories bind and blind us. The challenge is not to abandon myth but to create narratives resilient enough to hold truth as well as pride.

When Peace Becomes More Than the Absence of War

When Peace Becomes More Than the Absence of War

There's a moment in every heated family argument when someone—usually the most exhausted person in the room—throws up their hands and says, "Can't we all just get along?" It's a reasonable plea, born from genuine fatigue with conflict. But here's the thing: getting...

The Eye Color Experiment: Our Unfinished Journey to Empathy

The Eye Color Experiment: Our Unfinished Journey to Empathy

There’s a line near the end of Colin Benjamin’s recent essay—BLUE AYES/BROWN NAYES—that I keep circling back to. It comes after he’s laid bare the way modern identity politics mimic Jane Elliott’s infamous 1968 classroom experiment, where third-graders turned on each...