At the alter of Kelsen

One of the reasons I procrastinate so frequently is because as soon as I start working, reading, thinking, etc., I realize just how much I don't know and how much more I need to read and learn to make sense of my work and my world. On the one hand, since I'm so isolated in terms of research and tend to work things out on my own, it's encouraging to see where my instincts take me. On the other, when I see where my instincts do take me, I'm overwhelmed by the magnitude of ideas and personalities I encounter. On the other (now third) hand, I guess what better way to spend your life than engaging big ideas?

(Actually, I can think of any number of better and more profitable ways to spend one's life.)

Nonetheless, getting a lot of good work done, and today all roads lead to Kelsen. Of course, I'm happy, I return to my roots, but this is no small thing. Looking at PIL efforts in LA also means looking at different models of constitutional adjudication, which means getting into the differences between US and European models (the famous distinction between diffuse and concentrated models), that is to say between the American or Anglosaxon and Kelsenian or Austrian models. And, of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg as most Latin American countries have mixed systems in which we can find a somewhat chaotic combination of (usually) at least three different "sub" models -- within any one country. Add to this the question of whether we're then dealing with effects erga omnes or inter partes, or a combination of both, etc., and you have a precipitous descent into grogginess, coffee drinking, and an incredible urge to simply watch tv.

Kelsen is a giant, with an interesting life and amazing intellect, coming out of a generation and period of legal and artistic development that interests me the most (early 20th C) and I guess I should look at the dissertation (which I now find simultaneously exhilarating and debilitating) as a lead into what really interests me: How the social/cultural/artistic context of early 20th C Europe influenced the development of public law. And, I'm studying PIL in LA? How did that happen?! There's a thread I don't have the energy to get into here. Nonetheless, it seems I started at the end, when I should have started at the beginning. Nice going BT!

Nice, cool rainy day here in BA. Back to coffee and Kelsen. Hope everyone is well.

B.