Blog — Jamie Aroosi

Canadian and American Healthcare: Some Thoughts on Two Different Political Trajectories

Canada's healthcare is becoming more privatized, while America's is becoming more public.

As a dual citizen, someone who grew up in Canada but who now lives in the United States, healthcare has always been one of the biggest sacrifices. Even with a good insurance plan, which I luckily have, it's hard for me to imagine how anyone who had experienced both could in their right mind choose the American system. And while I thought this would always be true, I can now imagine a time when the American system is better than the Canadian. It might not happen, but it's now within the realm of my imagination.

Jamie AroosiJanuary 23, 2019Canada, United States, HealthcareComment

Kierkegaard, Marx, and MLK

I've been seeing a lot of people share some of their writing about MLK today, so at the risk of using today to sell books (but this is still America, right?), I thought I'd share a few paragraphs from the conclusion of my book. I don't claim to be an expert on MLK, but I've long thought that while he's obviously given credit as a moral exemplar and world-historical figure, he's not given the credit he deserves as a political theorist. And part of the reason might be that political theorists don't read Kierkegaard, or more broadly, that we don't always appreciate the importance of religious thought.

Jamie AroosiJanuary 21, 2019Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Karl Marx, Søren Kierkegaard, The Dialectical SelfComment

Hamilton, Humbug! Where's the Politics At?

A few years back, following my wife’s diligent lottery entry, we were lucky enough to go see Hamilton on Broadway. I didn't write much about it then, but mostly because it didn't seem worth it. There was such unequivocal praise for it, both from fans and critics alike, that writing anything critical seemed like I would just be picking a fight.. I've learned that being an adult entails learning to pick and choose your internet battles, if I don't always follow this advice as well as I should. But speaking only for myself, I was really underwhelmed by the play.

It's receded too far into the past for me to remember too much about it, but I think that my biggest criticism is that following all the hype about the play, I was expecting SOMETHING. I didn't know what, but something. But all I got seemed like a whole lotta nothing. For a play about the founding fathers, it was completely devoid of politics.

Jamie AroosiJanuary 9, 2019Hamilton, Musical, Broadway, Lin-Manuel MirandaComment

The Dialectical Self: Kierkegaard, Marx, and the Making of the Modern Subject

At long last, my first book, The Dialectical Self: Kierkegaard, Marx, and the Making of the Modern Subject, is out. I couldn't think of a better way to ring in the New Year.

I'd certainly love it if anyone wanted to buy a copy, and promo code PJ55 will get you 20% off at the University of Pennsylvania Press website (or you can sign up for emails for 30% off), and feel free to share this post and/or the promo code. I'd be thrilled by either.

I also thought this might be a good time to share a little bit about what the book is. However, years into this project, and I still describe it only with great difficulty. And in part this is because it's a book that will mean different things to different people.

Jamie AroosiJanuary 1, 2019Søren Kierkegaard, Karl Marx, The Dialectical Self Comments

Through What Does The Dude Abide?

Richard Brody's review of The Big Lebowski was popping up in my Facebook feed, and while I usually avoid his reviews because they're impenetrably pretentious, I read this one. As expected, it sucked. But he was right about one thing, which was something I noticed when my wife and I saw it in theaters a few months back. The Big Lebowski is a leftist movie.

Jamie AroosiNovember 21, 2018The Big Lebowski, Fascism, Anti-fascismComment

Stupid People

Reading some old posts of mine, I got to thinking about the problem of confidence. Or, really, the problem of over-confidence.

So many of our arguments, be they about politics or about more mundane affairs, come down to the problem of over-confidence, because we live in a world in which people are overly confident about opinions that aren't true. But I'm not talking about the fringe wingnuts who hold beliefs with little to no evidence, and with a complete disregard for it, because their craziness quickly reveals itself. It might not be possible to change their mind, but it's pretty easy to recognize and avoid these people.

Instead, I'm thinking about a more problematic version of over-confidence that has to do with people who do have a sense of what they're talking about, and who know their topic in at least a minimal fashion. From their point of view they hold a position that is a position based on facts. But oftentimes, they're working from a limited set of facts, so that they can only hold their position at the expense of other facts.

Jamie AroosiNovember 20, 2018confidence, overconfidence, stupidityComment

Cheating at a Rigged Game

It's both disappointing and hopeful to see the vote margin in the recent midterms. 10,000 for Senate in Florida, 50,000 for Governor in Georgia, and 250K for Senate in Texas (but out of 8 million votes). These are all very slim margins. It's depressing that this is what the future of the country hinges upon, but it's also hopeful to know that swinging Red states Blue requires so little.

But perhaps the biggest issue is that these margins all fall within the margins we can attribute to voter suppression.

Jamie AroosiNovember 18, 20182018 Midterm Elections, Voter Suppression, Republicans Comment

The Deep Truths of Bad TV

I've been watching the Jack Ryan series on Prime (i.e., Jim from The Office joins the CIA.) I'm a sucker for a spy thriller, even though it's pretty bad. Not just a little bad actually, but really bad. But somehow, in its badness, it offers a pretty interesting window into the state of the world.

For instance, I'm not sure if it's because of bad writing or bad acting, and I suspect it's a combination of both, but the main character, Jack Ryan (played by Jim from The Office), has the depth of a piece of paper. In one scene he's questioned by a French official about his job with the CIA. She asks him how he can stomach working for the CIA knowing what they do. His response? He thinks it's better to try to change things from the inside.

Obviously, this is about the most hackneyed of responses you could find. But what's interesting is that because the character is not at all believable, because the writing and acting is so bad, the stupidity of his response seems obvious. In other words, I suspect that the audience doesn't really empathize with the Jack Ryan character. And when I was thinking about it, it made me realize that this isn't only because of the poor quality of the show, but about the times we live in.

Jamie AroosiNovember 13, 2018The Office, Jack Ryan, John Krasinski, Jack Bauer, Mousa Bin Suleiman, Ali SulimanComment

Voter Suppression Depression

This was my first election as an American citizen. Today of all days there's no shortage of voting stories and political analysis, so it occurred to me that I might write a little something about the experience of voting as a new citizen. But I don't really have any grand thoughts about the experience.

As a long time voter in Canada, the differences were pretty obvious, and probably not all that surprising. Voting in Canada was much easier and I never had any doubt that my vote would be counted. And this wasn't the case here. The voting process is a mess, the ballot is extremely complicated, and I have little faith that my ballot will be counted, especially as I had two write-in votes.

And while I'm a huge fan of more democracy, this country also has a tendency to use democracy in an extremely undemocratic way.

Jamie AroosiNovember 6, 2018Kirsten Glibrand, Chuck Schumer, Elections, Canada, United StatesComment

You're not Ignorant, You're a Liar

I just finished reading the pages and pages of letters published by the NYRB regarding their recent piece by Jian Ghomeshi. And while it was refreshing to read many of these letters, because the vast majority of them were both powerful and deeply critical, I find myself somehow being angrier with the NYRB than I was beforehand.

While most of these letters were critical of the Ghomeshi piece and the NYRB's decision to run it, and often quite appropriately scathing in their condemnation, the NYRB peppered in supportive letters among the critical ones. And I found this in almost worse taste than I did the original publication of the Ghomeshi article, because it indicates that the NYRB still fails to understand the problem.

Jamie AroosiOctober 23, 2018Ian Buruma, New York Review of Books, Jian Ghomeshi, Lying, IgnoranceComment