The Editors
Articles by The Editors
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…
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…
Mr. Herbert’s Sunday Morning Service
Devon, PA. Most people, agrarian or otherwise, do not read poetry anymore. Ours is not merely a forgetful culture, but one that has long since ceased to approve of memory…
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…
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…
Politics in Kansas hasn’t changed much. Still a wild and wooly blood sport.
http://www.amconmag.com/article/2009/mar/23/00014/
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…
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…
An Elegy for South Bend
Devon, PA. Some years ago, early in my graduate student days in South Bend, I was invited to begin an opinion column in the campus newspaper, The Observer. The…
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.…
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…
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.…
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…
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…
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. …
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…
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…
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…
A Note on Immigration
South Bend, IN. Back here, in the city where the St. Joseph River takes her perpetual turn for the worse, my family and I have come to pay our last…
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…
“For all the Small Schools”: Or, It’s Hoosiers Time
'Tis the season to hie on down to the high school gym. Via First Principles, herewith my piece on Hoosiers, one of the precious few good films ever made about…
Back to the Land Economy
Well, we are all localists here, watching our national economy stagger and moan. Is there any room for a conversation about local economies? What would a local economy mean? One of…
Free Riding
Alexandria, VA A few nights ago in Washington D.C., Wendell Berry was among the speakers at what turned out to be a pep rally for opponents of global warming. They…