It's now an article of faith that universalism, like other Enlightenment ideas, is a sham that was invented to disguise Eurocentric views that supported colonialism…the claims are not simply ungrounded: they turn Enlightenment upside down. Enlightenment thinkers invented the critique of Eurocentrism and were the first to attack colonialism, on the basis of universalist ideas. —Susan Neiman, Left Is Not Woke

Greetings from the far left coast with a major announcement: Portable Bohemia goes Substack! Beginning on April 16 essays and news summaries previously posted on the Portable Bohemia blog moved to David Matthews Portable Bohemia at Substack in pursuit of a wider audience.

Content remains free. Subscribers receive free posts via email and the Substack app. To subscribe, click the link above and type your email in the form. All there is to it. To proceed to my Substack site without subscribing, just click "No thanks" instead of providing your email.

My goal is to post at least once a week, perhaps occasionally more often, with emphasis on occasionally. Subscribers can rest assured that they will not be deluged with email.

For now I will continue with this newsletter on the 1st and the 15h with links to new Substack posts. It may be dispensed with down the road if it comes to seem redundant, duplicative, or just tedious.

i think readers will find the transition to Substack painless. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you encounter any issues.

Thank you for your support and encouragement. I hope you will join me at David Matthews Portable Bohemia at Substack for further adventures in intellect and spirit, including commentary on politics and current affairs as conscience and honest indignation dictate in an honorable tradition of pamphleteers and gadflies that dates back to the invention of the printing press.

New at Substack:

• By Way of Introduction, April 16, 2023. Welcome to David Matthews Portable Bohemia at Substack…read more>>

• The Vexing Case of Sen. Feinstein, April 19, 2023. Discussion about whether Senator Dianne Feinstein should step down from the Senate because of health issues that adversely affect her capacity to carry out the responsibilities of office are dogged by the twin specters of age and sexism. Speculation that Feinstein suffers from cognitive decline…read more>>

• The Patterson Affair: Tribalism Run Amok Once Again, April 26, 2023. Charlie Sykes passed along an account of l’affaire Patterson on Monday in his Morning Shots newsletter (Identity Politics Comes for a Best-Selling Novelist)…read more>>

Keep the faith.

Stand with Ukraine.

yr obdt svt