Issue 137
August 2007
Contents
The sacred and the human
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Today's atheist polemics ignore the main insight of the anthropology of religion—that religion is not primarily about God, but about the human need for the sacred. As René Girard argues, religion is not the cause of violence, but the solution to it
The failure of market failure
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
New Labour economics, in both private and public sectors, is based on the idea of market failure. But the doctrine smuggles in too many neoliberal assumptions, and does not acknowledge collective choices. The centre-left needs something better
Taxing the super-rich
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
In recent years, Britain has attracted a large number of the world's super-rich—thanks partly to the favourable tax regime. But politicians of left and right are now starting to wonder if it's possible to increase the tax take on the wealthy without driving them abroad
Off the record
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
In recent years, the economics of pop music have been upended. The market for CDs has collapsed, and not even the rise of legal downloading can offset the damage to record companies. Meanwhile, demand for live performances has rocketed
Comment (2)The Diana moment: a change for the better?
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Did Diana's death make Britain a more emotionally healthy country? Or was it just the first example of the trend to turn private grief into public spectacle?
Albert Ellis
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Albert Ellis, the foul-mouthed father of cognitive therapy, is a modern Diogenes. Now severely ill, and at odds with the institute he founded, he remains convinced of the value of Stoic wisdom
Life, but not as we know it
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Thanks to the new science of synthetic biology, it will soon be possible to create living cells in a laboratory. This could bring big benefits—from medicine to combating global warming—but potential dangers too. I went to Greenland to find out more
An unlikely romance
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
A new collection of short stories, twinning French writers with Americans, marks the surprising return of an old form of an anti-US animus
Balochistan's rebels
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Is the US providing covert support to Baloch rebels in Iran? If so, what does this say about its support for Musharraf in Pakistan?
A miracle in Calcutta
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
I spent India's day of independence with Mahatma Gandhi in Calcutta—and watched him broker a miraculous peace between the city's warring Hindus and Muslims
Scotland's radicals
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Alex Salmond's willingness to fish in the wilder waters of Muslim politics is irresponsible and offensive to the heroes of 30th June
A faith in humanity
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Jonathan Power's optimistic new book is a powerful statement of ways to improve the world
That's Amora
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
London's new sex "theme park" aims to find a middle ground between pornography and sex education. Does it succeed?
Behaviour rules
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Issues of youth culture and behaviour are at last being placed at the centre of Britain's education debate
Strength in numbers
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
At last we are coming round to the view that great art doesn't have to be produced by solitary geniuses
Elect the inspectors
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
The "inspectocracy" isn't working. Inspectors must be accountable to local people, not ministers
Iraq's oil conundrum
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Many people think it was a war for oil, but US and British companies may end up getting none of it
Who works harder?
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Contrary to feminist claims, the sexes on average do equal amounts of work during their lifetimes
Something for everyone
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Gordon Brown's "progressive universalism" is a nice idea but it may come unstuck
Who will free Turkey's women?
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
The secular feminists have it wrong. There can be real progress for women in a Muslim Turkey
Champion of the arts
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
In his 12 years at the Barbican, John Tusa has transformed what was an ailing institution into one of the world's best centres for high culture. The ingredients of its success, he tells Stephen Everson, have been hands-off funding, eclectic programming and an unflinching commitment to artistic quality
A dictatorship of idiots?
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Critics of websites such as Wikipedia and MySpace claim they are eroding expertise and denuding the public sphere. Today's media may not be perfect, says james crabtree, but would anyone really want to put the clock back?
Motorcycle diaries
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
The neglected civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has led to 4m deaths, tells us more about Africa's problems than do Darfur or Rwanda. And Tim Butcher's account of a motorcycle trip through the country is gripping
Chile's poet-revolutionary
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Since his death in 2003, Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño has undergone a process of sanctification. The Savage Detectives is a novel that teems with poets and literary movements, yet doesn't take literature too seriously
Life in Extremistan
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
According to Nassim Nicholas Taleb, "black swans"—totally unforeseeable events like 9/11—are on the rise. Is it possible to improve our predictions, or should we simply accept what we don't know?
Widescreen
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Hollywood dictates that films must be tightly plotted, but after my Irish road trip I'm less sure. Cinema also has a more life-like, picaresque tradition
Private view
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Keith Arnatt's photos depict dog turds and rubbish—but they are also about the medium of photography. Why has this great artist been so ignored?
Smallscreen
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Privatising Channel 4 would be a mistake. The channel would take fewer risks, and the BBC would suffer too. The diversity of our television is its strength
Extra geography
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
We were fourteen. We decided to fall in love with the next person we saw
Letter from Berlin
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
The world's artists have moved to Berlin. It has cheap studios, cheap flats and cheap beer. It's poor but sexy. And you can pick up a free trampoline on your way to work
Washington watch
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Hillary Clinton's brief foray into student journalism may come back to haunt her. Plus, as Bush's troubles deepen, could Michael Bloomberg save the Republicans?
Matters of taste
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
The decline of seasonality in food should be celebrated, not lamented. It's only when you have strawberries all year round that you realise how much can be done with them
Rivers of Babylon
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
With the Sunni insurgency collapsing, Iraq's political map is being redrawn. A new class of Sunni leaders is emerging, willing to act as junior partners to the ascendant Shias
Inefficient markets
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
So many overseas students are choosing to study in Britain that higher education is now one of our major exports. Plus, do soaring commodity prices presage inflation?
These islands
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
I fled Cardiff when I was 20. Ten years ago, I came back. It is no longer a working-class city, but a European one. But have the changes come at the expense of the rest of Wales?
Brussels diary
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
Britain's new chancellor has already been outflanked by Nicolas Sarkozy, the current darling of the EU. Portugal, meanwhile, is in a pickle over its EU-Africa summit
Confessions
1st August 2007 — Issue 137
As my mental health declined, I started fantasising that I was related to Goebbels. Soon it all became too much and I swallowed 100 pills—but now things are slowly getting better