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The Editors

Articles by The Editors

Deadly Vices

Alexandria, VA. In a recent column, E.J. Dionne precedes his praise for a new economic populism - anger of the populace directed at economic elites - with a somewhat gratuitous,…
Patrick Deneen
March 23, 2009

Beer and Civic Life

Claremont, CA. The news is dreadful: According to the Census, since 2006 we have been living in a republic where, for the first time in the history of the republic,…

Farm Stories: Hog Killing

Let this day begin again the change of hogs into people, not the other way around, for today we celebrate again our lives' wedding with the world -- Wendell Berry,…
March 20, 2009

A Partially Localist Defense of Public Schooling

Wichita, KS President Obama's speech last week on the various hopes and goals his administration has in mind as they address the issue of public education in America gave rise…
March 19, 2009

Friends Abroad: Vandana Shiva

LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY. One of the structural evils of our two-party system and our editorial pages is the inherent bias of both towards two.  If not A, then B.  If not…
Katherine Dalton
March 19, 2009

The Internet Won’t Feed You, and Neither Will We

Rod Dreher posts a letter from a young 'un asking about law school and farming.  Similarly, a commenter here last week asked: I have only ever been acquainted, through my extended…
March 18, 2009

The Long Run

Alexandria, VA It has become a commonplace to observe that the thought of John Maynard Keynes is back in fashion. Keynes argued strenuously on behalf of government spending - including…
Patrick Deneen
March 16, 2009

On the Agripositive Side. . . .

Milford, Indiana. We'll take what we can get. In this mysterious, sky-drenched land of contradiction--where letter jackets are still common and a tapas bar, of all things, has recently been opened…
Jeremy Beer
March 16, 2009

Unreal Estate

Two news items of note that have recently caught my attention.  The first, that China has been taking advantage of the global firesale of stuff, along with its massive cash…
Patrick Deneen
March 15, 2009

Good for Gottfried

And good for Pa. State Rep. Samuel Rohrer, about whom I know nothing. Nor do I know why such a rally for states' rights came into being. Paul doesn't provide…
Jeremy Beer
March 15, 2009

Politics in Kansas hasn’t changed much. Still a wild and wooly blood sport.

http://www.amconmag.com/article/2009/mar/23/00014/
March 15, 2009

It was 20 Years Ago Today…Edward Abbey Lives!

BURNED-OVER DISTRICT, NY--Edward Abbey died twenty years ago today. A product of the perfectly named Home, Pennsylvania, son of the conjugation of a Woman’s Christian Temperance Unionist and a Wobbly…
March 14, 2009

Political Friendship in a Facebook World

JEFFERSON COUNTY, KANSAS.  Everyone here seems to pretty much agree that we are in a pickle.  The symptoms are there for anyone to see.  The root causes are perhaps more…
March 13, 2009

Douthat to the Times

Phoenix, Arizona. Catapulted by his inclusion on the exclusive FPR blogroll, Ross Douthat has been tabbed as a new opinion columnist for the New York Times. This is good news.…
Jeremy Beer
March 12, 2009

Write Home

BURNED-OVER DISTRICT, NY. Via the University Bookman, herewith my introduction to its recent special issue on Regionalism, which featured contributions from Frank Bryan, Kate Dalton, Jeff Cain, Jeremy Beer, Jesse…
March 11, 2009

Octo-Us

Claremont, CA. Here in southern California, local woman Nadya Suleman has been holding her own on the front pages, alongside arguably more pressing stories about the flailing economy. It's easy…

Death of a Farmer

He traveled the three miles to the mill 63 times during the 87th harvest of his life, his old International pulling the wagon my uncle filled with beans or corn.…
Jeremy Beer
March 10, 2009

Bernard Madoff, the Novel

Those of you who didn't lose your life savings with Mr. Madoff, and who can think about him with equanimity, may be interested in a very fine novel about his…
Katherine Dalton
March 8, 2009

What the Fork; Or, Why You Should Not Eat the Person Sitting Next to You

  Alexandria, VA . The causes of the current economic collapse have been widely discussed and minutely explored.  However, to date I do not believe that I have yet seen…
Patrick Deneen
March 8, 2009

It’s the Economy, Stupid

Los Angeles, CA At the risk of copyright infringement, I want to recommend a song of this title by John McCutcheon which appears on his album Hail to the Chief. …
Patrick Deneen
March 7, 2009

HORTON FOOTE, RIP

BURNED-OVER DISTRICT, NY. Horton Foote, the playwright and screenwriter from Wharton, Texas, died last week at the age of 92. Foote, whose finest works include The Trip to Bountiful and…
March 7, 2009

We’re Only Making Plans for Nigel

ITEM: President Obama Calls for Longer School Day, Public Education for Toddlers, & the Abolition of Summer Vacation RESPONSE: The fire captain in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451: “Heredity and environment…
March 7, 2009

No Wealth But Life

JEFFERSON COUNTY, KANSAS. William Allen White, the noted editorialist of Emporia, once named our shared home country America’s tenth muse—the muse of prophecy. If Kansas is muse, surely one of…
March 6, 2009

Patrimony And Autonomy

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. I appreciated Professor Deneen's discussion of the problem of free-riding, and I agree that ours is a precarious position, but I would suggest that it is also paradoxically…
March 5, 2009