The Magazine of the Liberal Arts for General Audiences

What is democracy and is it a good idea?

Milwaukee Anthropologist is now soliciting essays on the next issue's question: How central is music to the human experience? Email queries to the contact info below by the end of May 2011.


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Thank you for your patience. This issue is much delayed due to a number of factors, all of them ultimately my responsibility. I also beg the indulgence of my gracious contributors, who in addition to their boldness in approaching the topic displayed admirable patience during the delay.

Tony Gibart discusses how the word democracy is used to legitimize political regimes regardless of their respect for their constituents’ equality and unpacks the so-called democratic peace theory used as one justification for the war in Iraq.

Ben Klandrud, a captain in the U.S. Army and student of military history, reminds us to cherish the hard-fought freedoms of our democratic society and that the price of freedom is constant vigilance against many insidious tyrannies. He also laments the voter apathy of many Americans.

Michael LaForest, perennial third-party candidate who in 2010 is a write-in candidate for U.S. Senate, criticizes the two-party political system as a structural deficiency made possible and encouraged by our representative democracy. He suggests that democracy is a good idea but in practice it is flawed and co-opted by powerful minorities—the two major parties, moneyed corporations, and special-interests.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2, so surely this is an appropriate time to reflect upon the nature of democracy.

Michael Timm
31October2010

P.S. The next issue will consider the topic of music as relates to the human experience. It will be published sometime in 2011. Contact me with your essay ideas at platypus [[dot]] found [[at]] yahoo [[dot]] com.

Also, if you're new to the site, please scroll down and read the many engaging essays from past topics. Thanks for reading.

Please also note that the name of this site may change in 2011--many of you have noted, and I agree, that the "anthropologist" part of the magazine title is a bit of a misnomer. It remains the case, however, that I'm interested in collecting diverse opinions about topics of human import and that interest in exploring what it means to be human can be considered anthropological in a loose sense.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

As far as I am concerned, it is not mainly the form of a government but the kinds of people it grows that determine what it is a country has. And in Western civilization, increasingly over the last couple of millennia countries have tended to grow pathological populations -- ideologically crazed, materialistic, narcissistic, etc. The pace accelerated with the Enlightenment, and has become untenable over the last century or so -- and now we are seriously threatening the survival of the globe, with no sign of abatement of the threat. Democracy per se, education, etc., will not fix the messes; each generation seems to produce more pathological offspring, expectably. My solution? To delineate the problem – a bleak step.

Louis Berger

college thesis said...

very nice buddy keep sharing :)

About this Publication


Milwaukee Anthropologist
is an experimental publication that seeks to unite voices of enlightened authority from disparate disciplines, engaging a conversation about themes of human import.

It supposes that academia need not speak to or within academia to be of value or interest. It seeks to connect these voices with ordinary people, serving those readers who are united in a genuine curiosity about life and living.

The magazine begins humbly. While it is open to all, it focuses on writers with some connection to southeastern Wisconsin, and in particular, Milwaukee.

Milwaukee is not exactly thought of as any kind of cultural mecca, yet in its own humble way, it is precisely that--a cultural mecca along Lake Michigan. A small big city. A big small town. A mixing place of agricultural heartland and gritty urban reality. A city of neighborhoods, the hub of a thriving metro area. It is a place facing, among other challenges, an identity crisis following the shift away from a manufacturing economy. Therefore, one of the goals of this magazine is to fully respect the modern Milwaukee, as a place with people who care, who are intelligent, who are creative, who work hard, and who live humbly. It is both of and for Milwaukee, both of and for our entire world.

Each issue will be structured around a question of a preselected theme, the first of which is What is Life? in the tradition of physicist Erwin Schrödinger.

In each issue, writers from various disciplines will respond to the same question in an in-depth article of magazine quality and length. It is my hope that writers from disciplines as apparently diverse as Anthropology, Art, Engineering, Literature, Music, Philosophy, and Science will prove to have interesting and complementary things to say about topics to be discussed. Discussions will not be restricted to these categories and diverse voices will be welcomed. The idea here is interdisciplinary, but not necessarily in the sense of one author bringing together two or more disciplines to bear on one subject (although this is not a problem); rather, I hope to invite distinct and in-depth voices to explore human topics, allowing the reader to become sensitized to the connections within and among those various perspectives expressed. Voices need not be "of" academia to contribute, though I will be seeking such voices.

Another goal of this magazine is to provide a way for liberal arts learning to come in contact with the general population, because we live better lives when we consider things from various perspectives--especially perspectives not within our own comfort zones. What we do with what we learn remains up to us.

Finally, this online magazine seeks to remind us of two ideas. First, that those with specialized knowledge should not fear to share it. And second, that we can come to a better understanding of the world by recognizing both our human sameness and that there are many different ways of seeking truth.

-Michael Timm
April 30, 2008
rev. June 21, 2008

Milwaukee Anthropologist


Editor & Publisher
Michael Timm

Issue 7 Contributors
Tony Gibart
Ben Klandrud
Michael LaForest

Issue 6 Contributors
Jason Haas
Charles Oberweiser
Richard J. Sklba
Kevin Woodcock

Issue 5 Contributors
Luke Balsavich
Brandon Lorenz
Michael Timm


Issue 4 Contributors
David C. Joyce
Ryan Kresse
James Mlaker
Cody Pinkston
Michael Timm


Issue 3 Contributors

Tina Kemp
Mary Vuk Sussman
Michael Timm

Issue 2 Contributors
Kevin Cullen
Helena Fahnrich
John Janssen
Michael Timm

Issue 1 Contributors
Louis Berger
Greg Bird
Jill Florence Lackey
Christopher Poff
Michael Timm


Issue Themes: Life, Death, Love, & Freedom


In each issue of Milwaukee Anthropologist, writers from various disciplines will respond to the same question in an article of approximately 2,000 words. The first themed question was What is Life? in the tradition of physicist Erwin Schrödinger.

Issue 1 (June 21, 2008): What is Life?
Issue 2 (Sept. 22, 2008): What is Death?
Issue 3 (Dec. 22, 2008): What is Love?
Issue 4 (March 20, 2009): What is Freedom?
Issue 5 (July 15, 2009): What is natural?
Issue 6 (Winter 2010): What is happiness and how do we get it?
Issue 7 (Autumn 2010): What is democracy and is it a good idea?
Issue 8 (2011): How central is music to the human experience?
Future topics: What is our purpose and how do we know it? What about God? Why is humor funny and what does that mean?



There are many other voices out there—perhaps yours!—with ideas about life, death, love, and freedom, and you are welcome to read and comment at Milwaukee Anthropologist. The discussion only begins here. I invite readers to learn from the arguments presented here, get curious, get fascinated—and also question, challenge, criticize, and augment the essays by posting feedback or sharing what you've read here with others.

If you are interested in contributing in the future, please contact me. Milwaukee Anthropologist is open to submissions. The deadline for unsolicited submissions is the 1st of the month in which an issue will be published.

Readers, please feel free to widely disseminate this site address to others you think would find it interesting, via email notices, word-of-mouth, or list servs.



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