Articles Archive
You Did Build That and You’re Receiving a Builder’s Discount
Hillsdale, Michigan. Thanks to Comcast (who says I never thank them), I noticed a headline from the Daily Beast today about the 20 most affordable colleges. The hook was trying…
Longing for Home Over Glory: An Artful Interpretation of the Epic Poems by Homer and Virgil
Dramatic paths to glory are viewed with skepticism in our modern democratic age. As Tocqueville suggests, “amongst democratic nations ambition is ardent and continual, but its aim is not habitually…
New “Safety” Laws Threaten Farmers
Scale matters and a one-size-fits-all solution is a function of a state that exceeds a proper scale (and ignores a common sense approach to problems). According to one article: The…
Piercing Hawkeye
"I love Old October so/I can't bear to see her go," sang the Hoosier Poet of this most resplendent and melancholy month. Among the gifts this October brings is the…
Beauty is the Answer
In ISI's on-going series titled "Conservatism: What's Wrong with it and How Can we Make it Right?" Gerald Russello argues that conservatives have pursued power but neglected beauty. He writes:…
What You Need to Know About John Lukacs
John Lukacs (1924-) is one of the last great narrative historians, to be numbered among Jacques Gibbon, Jacques Barzun, George Kennan and Samuel A. Huntington. Lukacs wrote more than twenty books,…
Paranoia Will Destroy Ya
From The American Conservative, my review of Jesse Walker's terrific new book The United States of Paranoia.
Touching Death: Mourning Physically through Burial
In mid-September of this year my father passed away after a several year decline with dementia. With the help and support of family and friends we were able to give…
The Once and Future Boss: The Possibilities of Tammany Hall
We are, here in New York, just about ready to cast our votes for the next mayor: even Mike Bloomberg cannot, apparently, actually appoint himself Patrician after the model of…
Beauty will Save the World
The following talk was given at a symposium titled “‘Beauty will Save the World’ – It’s the Culture,” arranged by Andy Anuzis and The Civil Society Initiative. I want to…
What You Need to Know About Bernard Lonergan, S. J.
From the distance of 750 years, Thomas Aquinas can seem quite the stodgy fellow—not just old school but the old school. One needs to look a little closer to realize…
An Imaginary Conservatism: The Realists vs. the Romantics
Reprinted from Ethika Politika Michael Hannon has made a serious attempt to deal with the disputes between the “capitalist” and “anti-capitalist” conservatives, and such a serious attempt deserves a serious…
Moyers Interviews Berry
At the Berry Center's celebration of the 35th anniversary of The Unsettling of America, held last April, Bill Moyers interviewed Wendell Berry before the assembled conference participants. That interview will be…
The Rhetoric of War Powers
I suppose we have the Constitution we deserve--but we could fight for the one we had.
Craft First
As part of my recent visit to Hillsdale College, where I read from my forthcoming book, The Violent and the Fallen, I gave a short interview to the campus paper,…
What You Need to Know About Dwight Macdonald
Dwight Macdonald was one of the twentieth century’s great public intellectuals. American culture was Macdonald’s specialty, including government. A journalist by trade, Macdonald’s first professional job was writing for Time…
Conservatism: What’s Wrong with it and How Can We Make it Right?
This is my contribution to ISI’s symposium, Conservatism: What’s Wrong with it and How Can We Make it Right? In one sense, there is nothing wrong with conservatism. The principles…
Chipotle ads Promote Humane Animal Husbandry
A couple years ago Chipotle came out with an ad promoting their commitment to using only humanely raised meat products. The Willie Nelson cover of the Cold Play tune The…
FPR Conference. Plus Bookstore
It's still not too late to register for the upcoming FPR conference this Friday and Saturday in Claremont, CA. To whet your appetite, here is a link to books written…
What You Need to Know About Jane Jacobs
Let us suppose we are confronted with a desperate thing-- say Pimlico... It is not enough for a man to disapprove of Pimlico: in that case he will merely cut…
Michiganders Take Note: A Reading at Hillsdale College
As The Hillsdale Collegian announces, I shall be giving a reading from my two chapbooks of poetry at Hillsdale College this coming week. All persons of good will are welcome:…
What You Need to Know about Paul Gottfried
Paul Gottfried is among the most important contemporary conservative thinkers. An intellectual historian, since the 1980s Gottfried has been the foremost critic of American conservatism from the perspective of someone…
It’s Up to You Not to Heed the Call Up
During the First World War, the Kansas Socialist Kate Richards O'Hare was thrown into prison for violating Woodrow Wilson's Espionage Act. Her crime? Telling a North Dakota audience that their…