Memory Is The Only Afterlife I Have

Genocide Is Not Just A Murderous Madness; It Is, More Deeply, A Politics That Promises A Utopia Beyond Politics - One People, One Land, One Truth, The End Of Difference. Since Genocide Is A Form Of Political Utopia, It Remains An Enduring Temptation In Any Multiethnic And Multicultural Society In Crisis.

There Are Lots Of Nations In The World Or National Peoples Who Don't Yet Have States. They're Inside Someone Else's State And They Want A State Of Their Own.

An Intellectual May Be Interested In Ideas And Policies For Their Own Sake, But A Politician's Interest Is Exclusively In The Question Of Whether An Idea's Time Has Come.

Political Utopias Are A Form Of Nostalgia For An Imagined Past Projected Onto The Future As A Wish.

In Academic Life, False Ideas Are Merely False And Useless Ones Can Be Fun To Play With. In Political Life, False Ideas Can Ruin The Lives Of Millions And Useless Ones Can Waste Precious Resources. An Intellectual's Responsibility For His Ideas Is To Follow Their Consequences Wherever They May Lead. A Politician's Responsibility Is To Master Those Consequences And Prevent Them From Doing Harm. Michael Ignatieff, A Former Professor At Harvard And Contributing Writer For The Magazine, Is A Member Of Canada's Parliament And Deputy Leader Of The Liberal Party.