BL—For many people in the United States the heart of America was the Founding Father’s Enlightenment: The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution and the Bill of Rights. But as  Barry Alan Shain wrote in his book The Myth of American Individualism, America was a deeply protestant country way before the end of the 18thcentury. This article is not only about the legacy of Protestant of the United States but also the Jewish interpretation of the Old Testament that the Puritans drew from.

VP—Revolutionary governments inherit structures shaped over generations by ancient hierarchies of caste and tribe that govern agrarian relations, by colonial humiliation and expropriation, and by total social deprivation. The Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union, for instance, discovered quickly that the old tsarist bureaucratic culture did not disappear in October 1917. Corruption, deference to authority, and distrust of collective institutions persisted for years. In China after the 1949 Revolution, the Communist Party repeatedly confronted the remnants of Confucian hierarchy, regional patronage systems, and peasant survival habits formed through centuries of insecurity. In Cuba after 1959, the revolutionary leadership spoke openly of creating a ‘new human being’ because they understood that socialist consciousness could not be legislated overnight.

KARLOFT—Guancha writer Lei Yigu used a recent NY Times article as a foil for her article, “China is making every effort to tackle the “ultimate plan” of human energy, what is the US government doing?” I find greater value gained from Guancha than the NY Timesbecause IMO there’s a clearer perspective and focus on the topic. As in many technological realms, China is ahead of or at par with the Outlaw US Empire, and that worries or infuriates a particular class of Americans. Empire policy has opted to exclude/bar China from participation in joint scientific pursuits and has urged its vassals to do the same, although with limited success.

DW—The Hezbollah-Israel clash is a proxy battlefield reflecting the broader US-Iran rivalry, challenging simplistic narratives that reduce the conflict to territorial disputes. Israel’s actions are motivated by losing influence in West Asia and attempts to assert dominance, while the US is conflicted between its geopolitical objectives and Zionist lobby pressures. This complexity underscores the interlinked nature of regional conflicts and superpower diplomacy.