121. CONFIDENCE MAN - What Exactly Do The Conservative Party Have Confidence In?

June 10, 2022 by DaN McKee in Authentic Democracy, Elections, Ethics, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“According to last week's confidence vote, the majority of Conservative members of Parliament have confidence in the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. 211 out of 359 MPs, or 59%. But what does this actually tell us? And why do we care about their levels of confidence? Should confidence have anything to do with governing in a democracy? And, if it does, ought the question of confidence be put to the demos - the whole population - rather than merely the MPs of the current ruling party, many of whom are frontbenchers dependent on the very Prime Minister whose confidence is in question for their current political and financial success?“

120. TALKING ABOUT MY CONSTITUTION - Why Conversation Is More Important Than Codification

June 06, 2022 by DaN McKee in Anarchism, Authentic Democracy, Communication, Culture, History, Media, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics

“The very act of codifying into a constitution the core principles of how your society is to be run is to commit future generations to values that they may not actually hold. It is a normative act, wherein one generation is imposing a set of values in stone on the basis that they believe future generations ought to hold such values. But while human beings remain autonomous agents capable of choosing many different values such an imposition has no guarantee of sticking unless the values are, in fact, actually held by the citizens for whom they are endorsed. This means constitutions are either attempting the impossible and trying to force people into valuing something they don’t value, or they are redundant, as they simply articulate values already held.“

57. IT’S HARD TO FOLLOW THE LOGIC ON COVID 19 - Though It's A Little Easier If You Follow The Money

September 21, 2020 by DaN McKee in COVID19, Culture, Economics, Education, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, School, Work

“As a philosopher it’s hard to follow the logic around Covid policy because in many cases there simply isn’t any. There is only the illusion of logic. A symbolic nod to a vague sense of health and safety which doesn’t dare follow its own argument to a conclusion for fear of what that conclusion might say.“

55. THE WORLD (NOT JUST AMERICA) NEEDS BIDEN TO WIN THE 2020 ELECTION: A Student in the UK Weighs in on the Ethics of American Voting

September 07, 2020 by DaN McKee in COVID19, Economics, Ethics, History, Militarisation, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Politics, Student Writing, Elections

“since the election of Donald Trump in 2016, the US has gone from perceived leader of the free world and centre of cooperation to a nation which continues to pull out of global organisations which ensure global security, health and sustainability, hence damaging the capability of all nations to respond to aggressive nations, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic“

- Commercial Break: NEW BOOK OUT NOW - →

May 01, 2020 by DaN McKee in Anarchism, Ethics, Philosophy, Philosophy Unleashed, Book

My new book - Authentic Democracy: An Ethical Justification of Anarchism - is out now as an e-book on Amazon and out in paperback from May 11th. Pre-order now from the publisher, Tippermuir Books, or from Amazon.