The Stump 340

"…this city of Houston, this State of Texas, this country of the United States was not built by those who waited and rested and wished to look behind them. This…

Precisely because it is limitless, space is the best place to test the limits of our courage and abilities.

I am in love with my neighborhood because I am in love with the people, how resilient and complicated they are, and how they teach me how wrong I have…

When we stop trying to be everywhere at once, we have enough time for the meaningful things.

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] I've been a fan of Bill McKibben's writings for close to 30 years. That doesn't mean I've agreed with, or even enjoyed, everything this endlessly…

In such times, a centripetal lurch is what we desperately need.

The Varsity Blues parents didn’t really care if their children learned anything; they were concerned that they got their ticket to success stamped by the right institution.

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] A week ago I was able to organize a small group of friends to attend a fine, relatively intimate event at Sterling College, a small…

In Canto XXX of the Inferno, Dante becomes fascinated with an argument between Sinon the Greek and Master Adamo, both of them condemned for sowing discord. Virgil, his guide through…

Local communities, not the federal government, should hold the true authority over one’s life, especially in matters of taxation.

Earlier this year, headlines indicated that an unprecedented number of Americans are more than 90 days behind on their car loan payments. Nearly all economists agree that 7 million Americans defaulting…

Confucius deserves a place of honor on the Front Porch because he was History’s keenest observer of the traditions and rituals that make life civilized. He lived in a time…

The soul is no traveller; the wise man stays at home, and when his necessities, his duties, on any occasion call him from his house, or into foreign lands, he…

Over the last several years, our little band over at Solidarity Hall—myself, Susannah Black, Mark Gordon, Matt Cooper, Grace Potts, and a few more—have entertained ourselves by watching various Facebook political…

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] Loka Ashwood, a rural sociologist at Auburn University, visited The Land Institute in Salina, KS, last September, and gave a presentation on her then just-published…

In 1934, the philosopher Martin Heidegger, tired of his ill-inclined maneuvering to become the celebrity intellectual who would steer the Nazi Party into greatness, resigned from his rectorate at Freiburg…

[Cross-posted to In Media Res] Back in February, Rod Dreher shared with his readers an idea for a new book: to introduce conservative Christians in America to "the warnings that…

For all its current weaknesses, the GND is an effort to “solve for pattern” as Wendell Berry recommends.

I was not on board the FPR train early enough to be considered one of its engineers. I met Mark Mitchell at a conference in New Mexico, and heard him…

On the tenth anniversary of FPR we must admit a little sadly that we’re still relevant.

Hidden Springs Lane, VA In the spring of 2009, when the economic crisis of the previous year was continuing to unfold, a group of academics and other writers joined forces…

This month marks the 10th anniversary of the Front Porch Republic. To honor the occasion, we'll be running a few essays by some of the original Porchers in which they…

The risks associated with global warming are real, if chronically overstated by many on the left, and the response will require a soberness that is sorely lacking across the political…

In the Christian imagination, Dorothy Day looms as one of the 20th century’s great saints. A Communist convert to Christianity and co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement, her work among…