CULTURAL & POLITICAL ANALYSTS

Andrew S. Taylor, a Cyrano's Journal Senior Contributing Editor, is also the Associate Editor of MendaCity Review, an online journal of literature and political commentary. His own short stories, which veer towards the experimental wing of the speculative fiction/slipstream fantasy genre, have appeared online and in print in various publications. He has also contributed numerous articles and reviews to American Book Review and Ghetto Blaster Magazine. He holds an M.A. from the Creative Writing Program at The City College of New York, and currently resides in Brooklyn.

Outing the L-Word, Part I | 2.25.07

There are few "third party" philosophies at the edges of America's visible political spectrum that have a greater philosophical influence than Libertarianism, and by "few" I do, in fact, mean "none." To my knowledge, the Libertarians have yet to send a single offspring from their brood into Congress. Perhaps they do not need to, since their intellectual masterminds are in the payroll of the three of the most prominent conservative think-tanks in the nation (AEI, Heritage, and Cato Institute), their philosophy has infiltrated both the mainstream of the Republican and Democratic parties alike, and they have seen former Ayn Rand disciple and rockin' clarinetist Alan Greenspan run the U.S. Treasury for nearly two decades, through the terms of four U.S. presidents. [READ ON] Also here: https://bestcyrano.org/voxpop/?p=11

Outing the L-Word Part II: Nature, Power, and Hierarchy | 5.8.07

While there are many strains and sub-categories of Libertarianism, each with their own distinct epistemology and nuances, there is one common argument that is shared by all: that laissez-faire capitalism is the most “natural” of all economic systems and that, by extension, systems of redistribution such as communism and socialism are the most “artificial.” This argument is sometimes implicit, and sometimes it is quite overt. The purpose of this essay will be to discuss why it is wrong, and to further explain why the way in which it is wrong can lead us to a better, more consistent philosophical construct in defense of social democracy. [READ ON]

What is Money? Outing the L-Word Part 3 | 6.17.07

We wish to live in a world where our wages have some objective meaning, and are not simply reflections of unthinking market relativism. But we live in an age of post-modern money, in which our currency - be it paper, plastic, or figures recorded in computer memory - serves as a re-writable “open text” for those to whom the world’s treasuries are entrusted. Its value can be altered by decree, trimmed and nudged with exacting precision in studied correlation to events throughout the world marketplace. [READ ON]

SiCKO: Framing the debate | 7.7.07

The primary means by which any governing power structure controls its populace is by exerting influence over the individual thought-process, influencing how the populace perceives reality. The main channels of control are therefore systems of education and public discourse (i.e., the media), and the primary methods are censorship of ideas, and censorship of facts. If one can accomplish the latter sufficiently, there is little need for the former. Discourse can proceed in the form of ostensibly oppositional debate, while the most crucial questions and realities are hidden in plain view. [READ ON]

SiCKO 2: Moore v. Gupta | CNN Lies | 7.16.07

Michael Moore recently went head-to-head with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, over a short, pseudo-journalistic hit-piece crafted by the latter in which Moore is charged with “fudging the facts” in Sicko, his new film about the woeful inadequacy of American health care. Their heated debate on Larry King Live provided little illumination, as both quibbled over figures and source citations. Moore did his best, over the course of five minutes, to refute what amounted to a cheap, underhanded assault on his journalistic credibility, but viewers could easily have come away from the exchange with little appreciation for just how sleazy and manipulative Dr. Gupta’s attack on Moore actually was. [READ ON]