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Articles Archive

Modernity, Fecundity, and Being a Competent Geek

Wichita, KS. Not too long ago, I asked my readers at my main blog just what sort of geek I should be. (The answer, in case it wasn't apparent at…
April 21, 2009

Tea Party

Last week's motley collection of protests against taxation, centralization and the Government are now old news, but their spirit remains perennially relevant. Invoked in the name of the original "Boston…
Patrick Deneen
April 20, 2009

Price, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

JEFFERSON COUNTY, KANSAS.*  In 1947, two titans of 20th-century economic theory, Ludwig von Mises and Wilhelm Röpke, met in Röpke's home of Geneva, Switzerland. During the war, the Genevan fathers coped…
April 18, 2009

The Crappiest Generation

I've been recommending this clip from the Conan O'Brien show to anyone willing to listen (many simply back away, slowly...).  It's side-splittingly funny, and about as true as anything I've…
Patrick Deneen
April 18, 2009

To Hell with Earth Day; Long Live Arbor Day!

Once upon a time in America, schoolchildren celebrated a lovely little holiday called Arbor Day. The young scholars would sing songs about Johnny Appleseed, recite Joyce Kilmer into the ground,…
April 17, 2009

Feed Fish to the Leviathan

Devon, PA.  Stanley Fish has taken up a lot of public space during his career, but never has he darkened the depths in such monstrous fashion as he does in…

Money Talks, But It Can’t Sing and Dance and It Can’t Walk

George Will, who once upon a time long ago was capable of making truly thoughtful and important contributions to discussions over liberalism and conservatism in America, but who has, unfortunately,…
April 16, 2009

The Thee-ater of the Bozarts

Louisville, Ky. “Rural dwellers may have boundless tolerance for exaltations of the wonders and mysteries of the natural world, but the urban spirit begins to rebel. By the time this…
Katherine Dalton
April 16, 2009

April 15

Princeton, NJ I have to admit, I have been finding it difficult to write much of anything of late. This is a fairly unusual condition - usually I find no…
Patrick Deneen
April 15, 2009

Peggy Noonan on the End of Affluence

Peggy Noonan has a piece in the WSJ titled "Goodby Bland Affluence." Seems even NYC is slowing down and, for the first time in its long history, being forced to…
Mark T. Mitchell
April 15, 2009

Ain’t No Anglos at the Park

PHOENIX, AZ. If you know me, and if you are not my insurance agent, you may also know that I occasionally enjoy a good cigar. On major holidays (and, let…
Jeremy Beer
April 14, 2009

The Dismal Science vs. Community

  RINGOES, NJ. In 1944 two very different but related books were published. The first was F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom. In a world that seemed to be succumbing…
Mark T. Mitchell
April 13, 2009

The Wise Old Œconomist

Mt. Airy, Philadelphia. Before it became a science of supply and demand and the circulation of commodities, economics was originally understood as the wisdom of household management. The Greek word…

Life Amid the Suicide Machines

JEFFERSON COUNTY, KANSAS.  In small town America, business owners get to sponsor everything from the high school wrestling team to the "pride committee" chili cook off.  One of the events…
April 10, 2009

Homesteading with Mother Earth

USAToday has a piece on folks who are simplifying their lives as a response to the economic troubles here. For those interested in some concrete advice, see this piece on…
Mark T. Mitchell
April 10, 2009

Does the Way of Improvement Lead Home?

First, let me extend my greetings to the readers of the Front Porch Republic. I have been following conversations here at FPR since it launched earlier this year and find…

Sex, Eschatology, and Everyday Life

Devon, PA.  I have contended that the two most vocal sources of outrage at Pope Benedict XVI's remark about the deleterious role of condoms in Africa did not in fact…

TAC Counter-Programming on Tea-Party Day

FPR readers should certainly check out the American Conservative today.  First, they have a new essay up by Dermot Quinn on the relationship of Wilhelm Ropke's ideas to the current…
Jeremy Beer
April 9, 2009

How To Tie a Tie

Claremont, CA - I don't know how to tie a tie. But now I know that I am not alone. Do this: On Google, type "how to" - or even…

The Cincinnatus of Thrift

Russell Arben Fox remembers well his thrifty grandmother, and so do I, and so do you, perhaps.  For the rest of the nation there is Amy Dacyczyn of Leeds, Maine,…
Katherine Dalton
April 8, 2009

The Real History of Carter’s “Malaise” Speech

A couple of young, progressive liberals (Kevin Mattson and Ezra Klein) note what too many mainstream American politicians and pundits have conveniently forgotten: that President Jimmy Carter's "malaise" speech--his thoughtful,…
April 8, 2009

The Ad-Man Cometh (for your Children)

RINGOES, NJ. March Madness is finally over. And for the first time in years, I actively participated in the madness. For most of our married life, my wife and I…
Mark T. Mitchell
April 7, 2009

G.K. Gets Real

I recently received a handsome, newly published copy of the book America Through European Eyes, published by Penn State University Press and edited by Jeffrey Isaac and Aurelian Craiutu.  …
Patrick Deneen
April 6, 2009

The Greatest Forgotten Player

PHOENIX, ARIZONA. Today is opening day, and how sweet it is. But nine days from now comes the most annoying day on the Major League Baseball schedule, when the league…
Jeremy Beer
April 6, 2009