Russell Arben Fox

Russell Arben Fox
190 POSTS490 COMMENTS
https://inmedias.blogspot.com/
Russell Arben Fox grew up milking cows and baling hay in Spokane Valley, WA, but now lives in Wichita, KS, where he runs the History & Politics and the Honors programs at Friends University, a small Christian liberal arts college. He aspires to write a book about the theory and practice of democracy, community, and environmental sustainability in small to mid-sized cities, like the one he has made his and his family's home; his scribblings pertaining to that and related subjects are collected at the Substack "Wichita and the Mittelpolitan." He also blogs--irregularly and usually at too-great a length--more broadly about politics, philosophy, religion, socialism, bicycling, books, farming, pop music, and whatever else strikes his fancy, at "In Medias Res."

Recent Essays

Global Warming, Local Farming, and Naomi Klein: A Trip to the Land Institute

Wichita, KS A couple of weeks ago some fine intellectuals, political figures, journalists, and activists associated with this blog gathered together to talk about localism,...

Everyone Needs a Little Localism (or Leroy) in Their Lives

Wichita, KS (This is, in many ways, connected to yesterday's post on Shannon Hayes's Radical Homemakers, but it also stands very much on its own.) Last...

Waking Up, Smelling the Constitutional Coffee

Wichita, KS Dahlia Lithwick and Ezra Klein are a couple of my favorite pundits in the whole blogosphere. Lithwick is snarky, and Klein is wonky,...

Simplicity “Bleg”

I'd like to call upon the collective wisdom of the Front Porch Republic, to help me with a new class I'll be teaching in...

He Deserved It

Wichita, KS That's a terribly unChristian thing to say, I know. To speak in moral terms--to speak of "desert"--in matters of war is to invariably...

Bradley Manning, and my Biggest Disappointment in Obama (Yet)

Wichita, KS Let me make two things clear: first, all things considered, I still think Barack Obama has been, and remains, a pretty decent president--certainly...

Theses on Unions, Wisconsin, and Other Things

Wichita, KS So last night, the Republicans in the Wisconsin state senate passed the bill which Governor Scott Walker has made the cornerstone of his...

Alito Gets it Right about Free Speech

As I predicted last October, the Supreme Court has made short work of the argument that the odious, bigoted, hateful, ridiculous Westboro Baptist Church...

A (Compromised) Localist Looks at Wisconsin

The demonstrations in support of union power in Wisconsin ought to speak powerfully to all localists, despite the complicated baggage they bring with them.

Libertarians and Others Talking about Traditionalism

An argument about tradition commences.

The Kodachrome Era Ends, Right Here in Kansas

Mama, they took my Kodachrome away.

The Tea Party and the TSA

The idea that the best way to reform government is to simply say "No!" is probably a bad idea...but for the TSA, I'll make an exception.