The Editors
Articles by The Editors
The Peasantry of the Future
Irving, TX. In answer to the question, “What do the poor want?” Simone Weil replied “They want you to look at them.” I take Simone's answer to mean we must…
The Alternative Tradition in America
Alexandria, VA Since Caleb has posted his lecture from a legendary conference a few years ago that a number of future Front Porchers attended in Charlottesville, VA, I've brushed off…
Broken Connections
"We live on the far side of a broken connection" Wendell Berry has written. One of the greatest obstacles resulting from our current circumstance is our inability to make the…
Carrots in Vermicelli*
The following is not intended to upset our happily balanced ecumenical apple cart ... As a Scots-Presbyterian of old psalm singing austerity, I tend to enjoy observing the furor set off…
Civilizing the Economy
Pope Benedict XVI's eagerly awaited third encyclical was released today: "Charity in Truth." I'll be reading it over the next few days, but here's a link to a quick synopsis.…
Can’t Buy Me Love
The folks at First Things have been kind enough to ignore my lame punning and respond to some of my criticisms, which has resulted in some helpful progress on examining…
Justice and Community
The conversation between Rusty Reno, Jody Bottum, and Caleb Stegall prompted me to revisit a recent post from "What I Saw In America" in response to a reader reply who…
Race, Localism, and the Problem of Over-Articulation: A Further Response to First Things
Joe Carter, managing editor of First Things, has been gracious enough to put up with my jokes at his boss's expense, so forthwith, I offer the following as the more…
On Canada, Conservatism, Tories, and Blackberries
Wichita, KS In honor of Canada Day, in the fine federation (though these days, in the eyes of a majority of Canadians, less a federation than an Americanized nation, or…
Will Wendell Be Jailed?
Claremont, CA. Wendell Berry, writer and farmer and hero to the people, might move from the farmhouse to the big house. Speaking at one of the USDA's National Identification System…
Carolina is for Pig-Lovers
BURNED-OVER DISTRICT, NY--Here comes the Fourth, and instead of asking why Americans revolted against remote authority in 1776 yet countenance it today, let us now praise picnics and beer and…
What’s Modernity Marx Got to Do With It? (FPR vs. PoMoCon, Part Drei)
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Wichita, KS Blogger though I am, I can't deny that there is a major advantage to arguments conducted through the slower media of paper (to…
C’mon Do the Pomocomotion With Me
A few impressions on the state of play. 1. Agree with JMW that this exchange has not been very helpful, and reiterate first thought that "comments" maximize tedium and minimize…
Place as Gift, Freedom
Good Lord, blogging is bad for the soul. That is a confession, not a violation of the Third Commandment, for those of you keeping track. What am I doing in…
On the Jewish Question
As Caleb has already noted here, Rusty Reno and Jody Bottum have been mixing it up over at First Things over issues of localism, a hot topic of late on…
Not My Hometown
Let it not be said that FPR indiscriminately supports "localism." I believe that all my compatriots here would agree that this is one "locality" that cannot be defended. Maybe that's…
FPR v. PoMoCon, Part Deux
Some heat and even some light have been generated in the numerous comments that followed upon my original posting in which I threw some gauntlets around. However, some inevitable reductionism…
A Patched Fool
Jody Bottum says the problem with localists is that they're all raving racists. O goody, let's get down to brass tacks. It's bizzare how Bottom's problem with localism is traceable once again to…
The Old School
My review of Jonathan Zimmerman's Small Wonder: The Little Red Schoolhouse in History and Memory appears in today's Wall Street Journal ("In One Room, Many Advantages"). The book is well worth…
Talking Chicken
New Castle, Kentucky. "Simplify, simplify," said Henry David Thoreau in one of his more peaceable moments, and I repeat it through gritted teeth as I watch the layered complexity that is Mr. Obama's solution…
You might be a pomocon if you watch Baywatch reruns because of the “virtuous” lifeguards.
Hey, JP opened the door.
Capitalism as an Unnatural System
Ever since capitalism made its appearance in the late Middle Ages and came to dominate both production and politics in the late 18th century, there has been a vigorous debate…
Michael Jackson’s Front Porch Moment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmXP9Y1HdWE Okay, so he never did go back to Indiana, back to where he started from. And it's too bad the Jackson 5 didn't cover Meredith Willson's Gary, Indiana.
Robert Nisbet’s Quest
Seattle, WA Robert Nisbet's 1953 book The Quest for Community has rightfully achieved that rare and estimable status of "classic." What Nisbet saw more clearly than most of his contemporaries …