Against Countries

Against Any Intrusion

Celia Paul | Paris Review | 2nd March 2022

Letters from a living artist to a dead one — the late 19C/early 20C painter Gwen John. The tone is intimate, as if the pair are close friends, and the subject matter bounces between the practical ("I think I used more turps than you did") and the more conceptual. "Painting, for you, was always a vocation. It is for me as well, but I am more ambitious than you, more organised and driven" (3,475 words)

There Is No Such Thing As Countries

Thomas R. Wells | Philosopher's Beard | 12th March 2022

Semantic digression. Countries are just places where people live, not agents capable of action. Too often the actions taken by the institutions of a country are elided with the place itself, leading to blame apportioned in the wrong quarter. Thus Russia did not invade Ukraine but rather "the organisation that rules Russia is challenging the sovereignty of the organisation that rules Ukraine" (2,144 words)

Countries may not be capable of action, but you are. Why not exercise a little of that agency, and subscribe to The Browser today?