Articles 355
The Demise of Virtue in Virtual America (Front Porch Republic Books)
Entrance:Virtual America’s Convention Hall Demise—1) the conveyance of an estate 2) transfer of the sovereignty to a successor 3) a: death b: cessation of existence or…
The Limits of the Language of Limits
Holland, MI Over at the Postmodern Conservative, Peter Lawler has been writing quite a bit about Robin Williams, and specifically the movie Dead Poets Society (which, Peter and I agree, isn’t…
Are Evangelical Colleges Parochial?
Hillsdale, Michigan. Readers may recall the dustup earlier in the summer when Peter Conn prompted pious gasps for suggesting that institutions like Wheaton College (the evangelical one) should not be…
From the Fire back into the Pan
Hillsdale, Michigan. Three years ago or so when the missus and I moved to Michigan from Philadelphia, we wondered how we would manage. Not only is the state's economy at…
Libertarianism, Paternalism, and Pot
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] From 2003 to 2005, we lived in Craighead County, Arkansas, while I taught at Arkansas State University. Craighead was a dry county, having voted many…
Travel in the Magic City
This summer I moved to a new neighborhood that happens to be much nearer the freeway that divides my city. My house is less than a mile from an on-ramp,…
Riverboat Pilots and Economists
In “Life on the Mississippi,” Mark Twain recounts his earnest desire to become a Mississippi steamboat pilot, and his struggles to master the pilot’s craft—a craft that demanded technical knowledge…
The Ailing Parson Malthus Project and the “New Sin of Pride”
Anyone who's had the good fortune to spend time reading Christopher Lasch might be able to identify with the specific experience of risable joy I feel when putting myself in…
Rituals of Embodiedness
[or “Talking with Our Stuff,” or “Salvation by Coffee”] This spring I had to buy a new coffee mill. Facing the loss of both my electric coffee grinder and my…
Something’s Fishy–But Not Very–At Dinnertime
Ingham County, MI As darkness falls upon what a friend of mine charitably calls “Jack-Ass Acres,” and as the promise of rain comes with the moving clouds at the end…
Rollin Coal and the Empire of Desire
Thanks to a good friend, I’m now up to speed on the phenomenon of “Rollin Coal,” which one commentator describes as “a new trend in which anti-environmentalist idiots with nothing…
Place and the Role of Planning
[This post is adapted with permission from “The Space Was Ours Before We Were the Place’s,” an essay in the anthology Why Place Matters: Geography, Identity, and Civic Life in…
Trust, Community Ties, and Letting Your Children Play
[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] The story has exploded all over the internet : Debra Harrell, a Georgia woman, dropped her 9-year-old child off at a park–not an isolated and…
The Dumb Ass Suffers a Cardio-Semantic Arrest
It’s the Big One. Tell the kids I love them. Wait at least a week to remarry.
Civic Engagement and the “Native Country”
[This post is adapted with permission from “Making American Places: Civic Engagement Rightly Understood,” an essay in the anthology Why Place Matters: Geography, Identity, and Civic Life in Modern America,…
Accreditation to the Rescue (for real?)
Hillsdale, Michigan. I am a little late to the surge of 1s and 0s in response to Peter Conn's less than tepid essay about faith and higher education. The gist…
Architecture and Urbanism: Traditional vs. Modern
[This post is adapted with permission from “Metaphysical Realism, Modernity, and Traditional Cultures of Building,” an essay in the anthology Why Place Matters: Geography, Identity, and Civic Life in Modern…
An Alternative to Cosmopolitanism
[This post is adapted with permission from “Making Places: The Cosmopolitan Temptation,” an essay in the anthology Why Place Matters: Geography, Identity, and Civic Life in Modern America, edited by…
Who Knew Independence Could Be This Easy?
Hillsdale, Michigan: While Americans are gearing up for fireworks, automobile sales, and burnt hot dogs, the Scots are debating whether to declare their independence from the United Kingdom. It…
Patriot Games
Holland, MI [Note: This is the shirt my son wore to the big screen simulcast on the lawn of the Ford Presidential Museum for the US v Belgium soccer game.…
Walker Percy and the Recovery of Place
[This post is adapted with permission from “GPS and the End of the Road,” an essay in the anthology Why Place Matters: Geography, Identity, and Civic Life in Modern America,…
Fences, Vines, Bees, and Huge Chickens
Hidden Springs Lane. We’re building fence this summer. I purchased 150 eight foot posts and we’ve been slowly planting them. We’re putting a paddock in the front and a larger…
Common Good Politics: A Review of Nader’s Book
In his new book, Ralph Nader argues that the Left and the Right should unite against the economic and political establishment in the Center.