The novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) was known as a voice for the poor and downtrodden in Russian society, and an advocate of social justice. Yet at the same time, he was a strong opponent of socialism and its presuppositions. As such, and given that the idea of socialism is a feature of the 2016 presidential race, I thought I would post a summary of Dostoevsky’s thoughts on socialism as intriguingly described in the Dostoevsky Encyclopedia:

“The Rousseauistic view of human nature on which utopian socialism rested was severely challenged by Dostoevsky’s experience of prison in Siberia. The theoretical notion of the fundamental goodness of human beings was now tested against the reality of human nature in the raw. The unrepentant brawlers, thieves, and murderers with whom he spent fourmardi 25 décembre 2007

Kurdish leaders fail to speak with one voice

Differences surfaced between the two main Iraqi Kurdish leaders at a press conference they held on Monday after a meeting to discuss a series of recent cross-border offensives carried out by the Turkish military against outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) targets in northern Iraq.Massoud Barzani, leader of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq, chose strong words to condemn the cross-border attacks going on since Dec. 16, claiming that numerous Iraqi Kurds have died in the operations. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who is also the leader of one of the main Kurdish political parties, however, was cautious in criticizing the Turkish military attacks, saying that Turkey had the right to defend itself against the terrorist threat.

"We understand Turkey