Why is it taking so long for Americans to become “real” grown-ups?

I people really want to see the current state of the union, they need to take a look at my favorite part of Liberty State Park, which is the fact that it recently has been bisected – rent in two – by the Liberty National Golf Course.

Claremont, CA. On Tuesday, the residents of this fair state voted to “open” the California primaries. From now on, every voter in the state will receive the same ballot in a primary election. In each race, voters can choose…

Jersey Shore teaches us something about the tragic dimensions of the culture in which we live, and in which we raise young people.

Hooking up is almost bound to emerge as a norm among young adults in a large-scale society where mobility is highly prized and cultivated.

Whatever else you make of Facebook friendship, it underscores the great and significant discrepancy between: 1) the scale of contemporary life, and 2) the scale of friendship.

It may be the great sentiment of this American moment: “I want to build something of my own. How do you not understand that?”

Here’s a sign of the times: if you’re worried about what all these digital and internet technologies are going to do to books, you can join a movement to signal your support of books (and other pen-and-inked things).

Here’s what really makes that a sign of the times: the movement is online.

Obama is suffering because whether or not it is true, he seems not to understand what is going on around the country. Whether or not it is true, he seems uninterested in making his proposals understood. As a result, he seems distant – the kind of guy who doesn’t really get you as a person – and the first thing that he must use to bridge that seeming distance is speech.

Claremont, CA. They call it the “Superman Syndrome.” People who use methamphetamine often believe that they are capable of doing impossible things. Like flying. Or walking through walls. Or earning a living as a meatpacker in the era of…

Claremont, CA. When my mother came to visit last week, she brought a copy of The Yiddish Policeman’s Union with her. Before she departed for the airport this morning, she left the book on my shelf.
And just like…

Claremont, CA. Men of Western civilization, take note: David Brooks thinks that you – and he – are done for.
In a recent exchange with Gail Collins, published on The New York Times “Opinionator Blog,” Brooks makes an argument…

Claremont, CA. In the current conversation on health care, we often hear that the crises of costs and coverage are problems that come with an aging population. OK. Fine.
What’s not fine is the assumption that because an aging…

Claremont, CA. If you don’t want to read the new report from Harvard Business School, titled “Understanding Users of Social Networks,” you can just listen to the song from Avenue Q, titled “The Internet Is For Porn.”
So it…

Claremont, CA.  The most haunting, awful scenes in Thucydides’s history of the Pelopponesian war are those describing the Athenian plague.
The plague emerged in the second year of the war, moving quickly from the port of Piraeus into the…

Claremont, CA. This is just too good.
Driving near Universal City last weekend, I saw a sign for what is possibly the most mind-blowing business concept I have ever encountered in my entire life: a solar-powered tanning salon.
If…

Claremont, CA. The New York Times has joined a host of other publications asking the question: Is college worth it? And again, just like every time I read an article that attempts to answer this question, I want to…

Claremont, CA. On the flight home, I read an issue of Delta Sky Magazine that listed the Panama Canal as one of “70 Wonders of the World.” The canal was listed, along with places like the Golden Gate Bridge…