By Aly Kamadia, Editor-In-Chief, iDose Magazine
“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”
So said Albert Einstein, whose provocative words are creatively deployed by Abdullah Gül, a former President of the Republic of Turkey, in a commentary for iDose about Israel and Gaza.
In the face of Palestinian babies and children being intentionally starved, among other horrors, Gül views the remarkable silence of some political leaders as complicity.
His comments raise the question of whether Western politicians who supply Netanyahu with the weapons to inflict state terror are not virtually, if not equally, as guilty as he is.
The former President of Turkey is not the only political leader who appears in iDose this month.
We also feature a piece by former Finance Minister of Greece and leader of the MERA25 party (and academic), Yanis Varoufakis.
The prominent intellectual acknowledges those who believe that working-class Trump voters will likely turn on him. After all, the American President has blatantly betrayed them, while serving his own financial interests and those of the ultra-wealthy.
But for reasons mentioned in his commentary, Varoufakis suspects that American working-class will not abandon Trump.
And it would be a mistake to accuse the US President of merely assaulting the hard-working Americans who voted to make him President.
The candid, no non-sense economist, Dean Baker, seems to believe that the ‘Make American Great Again’ slogan should be replaced by ‘Make China Great Again’, if we want slogans to reflect a bit of reality.
Yes, China’s economy is already larger than America’s. And that would have been the case with or without Trump.
But the 79-year-old in the White House, who is “suffering from dementia” (per Baker), is accelerating America’s relative decline.
Another economist featured in this issue of iDose is Nobel Laureate Michael Spence from Stanford University.
His piece is titled, “Adam Smith at 250.”
For readers who may be unaware, Smith is often considered the ‘Father of Economics’. Considering that next year will mark the 250th anniversary of his masterpiece, The Wealth of Nations, it is timely to remember some of Smith’s most fundamental ideas, and tie them to current economic moment.
This includes some brief remarks about generative AI (Large Language Models, or LLMs, such as ChatGPT).
For readers interested in a broader and more accessible commentary about Artificial Intelligence, I strongly suggest reading Antje Jackelén’s piece. The theologian will most certainly leave you with something to think about.
Now that I’ve introduced this all-star lineup for iDose Magazine’s August issue, I want to extend a special thank you to all who continue to send me questions, comments, and suggestions. Keep them rolling in – not only are they a delight to read, but some of you also leave me with something to think about.
It’s a fantastic perk of having a curious and intellectual readership.
aly@idose.org
Aly Kamadia
Editor-In-Chief, iDose Magazine
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