Articles Archive
The Country That Banned Milk
What would we think of a government that banned milk? Would we think it over-reaching, even oppressive? Would we condemn it for rejecting a great gift from God? Would we…
Gay Marriage and the Right to Marry
Hidden Spring Lane. The topic of gay marriage is difficult to avoid these days, even for those who would try. Defending “traditional marriage” is seen by many as either a…
Life Under Compulsion: The Itch
Thee let old men, Thee let young men, Thee let boys in chorus sing; Matrons, virgins, little maidens, With glad voices answering: Let their guileless songs re-echo, And the heart…
The Budget Redux
So I’ve recently written about the GAO’s overview of the US Economy. The CBO has just released its own report projecting economic activity and the budget for the next ten…
Plantinga Wins Rescher Prize
Perhaps one of the most influential philosophers of of time is Alvin Plantinga. He's just been awarded the prestigious Rescher Prize for his work. Here's a piece describing his work…
Being Catholic
For those who are Catholic, or at least have an interest in the fate of the Catholic Church in our contemporary political environment, Chad Pecknold has an interesting piece over…
The Economics of Splitting Wood by Hand
Hilaire Belloc once wrote that he never burned anything but oak in the huge fireplace of his ancient home in West Sussex. For a while I considered doing the same…
The Taxman
A few readers in response to my most recent piece expressed some incredulity about the chart showing that Americans paid, on average, about 30% of their income in taxes. This…
Ways to be Wicked
Via Reason, my review of Amy S. Greenberg's A Wicked War: Polk, Clay, Lincoln, and the 1846 U.S. Invasion of Mexico: http://reason.com/archives/2013/02/05/americas-war-with-mexico.
Thinking About Guns
Hidden Springs Lane. Guns have been in the news a lot recently. The dialogue, such as it is, is dominated by voices that seem ill disposed to consider the legitimacy…
Human Scale Discussion in Louisville
For those of you in the Louisville area, on February 7, the Mcconnell Center is hosting a discussion titled "reThink Big: Liberals, Conservatives, and the Search for Humane Scale." Here's…
The Budget: A Citizen’s Guide?
The Department of the Treasury recently released its “Citizen’s Guide to the 2012 Financial Report of the United States Government.” At 246 pages of relatively dense economic analysis I’m guessing…
Redeeming Detroit
So after the progressive improvers come and leave, someone has to clean up. For years we Michiganders have silently, or not so silently, wept over the plight of Detroit. But…
Free to Share
When SueAnne Bassett learned that she had stage four cervical cancer eight years ago, her doctors gave her a 20 percent chance that she would live five years, and that…
Faith, Wonder, and the Method
In Summa Theologica 2-2.1.4, Aquinas argues that every action can be understood in two ways: according to its order of intention–the goal one has in mind when one acts, and…
Women at War
Women are now cleared for combat positions in the American armed forces, and for all the ladder-climbing that now allows. On January 24th, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lifted the direct…
Beyond Supply and Demand
Here is the video of a talk I gave January 21 at Northwood University. The title: "Beyond Supply and Demand: The Moral Foundation of the Free Market."
Wither Courtship? (Pun Intended)
Alex Williams writes yet another piece in today's NYTimes on the end of courtship. Mark Mitchell has posted about this in the past, and I certainly cannot improve on Mark's observations.…
The March for Life, Poetry, and ‘Epimethean Men’
“Perhaps the truth depends on a walk around the lake.” --Wallace Stevens January 25, the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, will mark the fifth time in the last decade that…
Barack Obama: Socialist?
Washington DC When President Obama took office in 2009, many friends of capitalism were concerned that he would socialize our economy. Yet corporate profits have hit record heights…
Life Under Compulsion: The Dehumanities
Imagine a new father looking into the eyes of his child. A wisp of blond hair curls about the scalp. The fingers, wrinkled like those of an old man, curl…
It’s the Rights Culture, not the Gun Culture
As President Obama contemplates the political obstacles looming before the gun control agenda he announced on Wednesday, he might look closer to home for their cause. It is not the…
The Learning and Limits of Libraries
Three articles recently caught my eye, all of which having to do with scholars' fame, only two having to do with their libraries. The bookless one involved a professor of…
