Reading for Battle

Battle Readings is a regularly updated compilation of articles, essays, and opinion pieces relevant to the themes of the Battle of Ideas.

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Recent Readings

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Coarse sex and cheap lives
There is a sense that more straightforward access to abortion, and in particular the advent of the abortion pill, with which a pregnancy can be ended without any surgical intervention, has given us all a much more lax attitude towards casual relationships and unprotected sex because the consequences can be so swiftly eliminated with a handful of medication.
Clare Murphy, Independent, 22 October 2011

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Should we learn to be happy with the crumbs that fall to us?
It is amazing that today we can imagine Karl Marx warning us not to envy the social position of the ruling class. In fact, he was cautioning that we should never be content with the crumbs that fall to us.
Ashley Frawley, Independent, 21 October 2011

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Would aliens prove that humans are nothing special?
Richard Swan and Sandy Starr debate the significance that finding alien life would have on humanity.
Richard Swan and Sandy Starr, InDebate, October 2011

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Sex: it’s not all in the brain
In Delusions of Gender, Cordelia Fine demolishes the trendy notion that male and female brains are different, but does not overcome the idea that stereotypes are deeply engrained.
Derbyshire and Powell, spiked, 21 October 2011

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In drugs, pragmatism is the only moral approach
The damage that drugs can cause to some users is also clear. But set against this, there should be no doubt that drug use does bring benefits to many people. Why else would two million people a year use cannabis?
Roger Howard and Leo Barasi, Independent, 20 October 2011

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Hard as nails: Literature and translation today
Against all odds, people with different languages and cultures manage to understand one another. Not only in writing, but in speaking as well.
Miguel Ceia, Independent, 19 October 2011

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Steve Jobs was an amazing businessman – but Einstein’s the genius behind the iPod
There are many good things that can be said about Steve Jobs, particularly concerning his role as a leader and his ability to commercialise solutions to irksome consumer user experiences. But the pedestal of a great innovator on a par with Edison is highly debatable.
Norman Lewis, City AM, 18 October 2011

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Skills and yet more skills: is this really what Britain needs today?
Unemployment is currently over 2.5 million. The current economic recovery is less than anaemic, and everywhere we see forecasts anticipating a worsening economic experience in the coming years. ‘Skilling up’ is not going to overcome this state of affairs.
Para Mullan, Independent, 18 October 2011

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Morality and the law: an interview with the UK Drug Policy Commission
While decriminalisation potentially resolves some of the ambiguities that exist around policing illegal substances, it also represents a moral compromise on both sides
Suzy Dean, Free Society, 18 October 2011

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Giving the people’s Bible back to the people
The King James Bible (KJB) contains 66 books; now 66 writers have been commissioned to compose plays and other performances “in response” to each of those books.
Charles Moore, Daily Telegraph, 17 October 2011

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