Iowa is for Peace-Lovers
BURNED-OVER DISTRICT, NY---Our daughter will be spending the snowy months rehearsing her role as Marian the Librarian in her high school’s production of Meredith...
Electing Beaver: The Politics of Place in the Public Square
“The greatest thing a human soul ever does in this world is to see something, and tell what he saw in a plain way...
The Euro: Crisis and Opportunity
The Euro is in trouble, and the news just keeps getting worse. There is now open talk of a post-Euro Europe, and such a...
Occupy Oligarchy!
The “Occupy Wall Street” movement has proved to be significant in its appeal – a majority of Americans support the movement, even though it...
If Not Exceptional, How about Unusual
I am loathe to dissent from Mark Mitchell's thoughtful piece on American exceptionalism, true FroPo that I am. And I could simply add...
Mafia Among the Mountain Folk, Part II
“I don’t care if you bring the president of Peru and a thousand police—we’ll be carried out dead before you dig here!” Thus was...
American Exceptionalism or a Modest Republic?
If you are planning to run for president, here’s a word of advice: you must assert regularly and with great conviction your belief in...
Global Warming, Local Farming, and Naomi Klein: A Trip to the...
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,...
My Congressionally-Mandated Constitution Day Lecture
Wherein I respond to the federal mandate to "celebrate" Constitution Day. The text is taken from a lecture I gave at Northwood University, co-sponsored...
On Power
Every fall I teach a course called “Democracy.” One of the books we invariably read is On Power: The Natural History of its Growth...