Why Idealism Matters and the Proximity Principle of Enmity – Episode 57

Dara begins this week’s episode by looking at the Irish discomfort with self-approval and putting it in the context of small-island, village mentality. He argues that it is a product of a damaged national psyche that leaves many Irish people with a pathological self-deprecation born of superstition and distrust of success.

Reflecting on the too-seldom declared mission statement of the podcast, Dara reminds himself what he’s trying to achieve by putting out the show once a week. He has to conclude that it’s connected to something idealistic.

That leads him to discuss the words and work of Mohamed ElBaradei, the Egyptian diplomat and Nobel laureate who for 12 years oversaw the international agency responsible for the safe management and use of nuclear energy. He was part of the team who inspected Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction post the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He also had a role to play in 2011’s Arab Spring and the subsequent coup d’etat which briefly placed him as Egypt’s interim vice president.

Responding to ElBaradei’s thoughts on how to achieve a peaceful, unified world, Dara ends the episode discussing the complex similarity of sworn enemies.

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