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Uncategorized 1145

Localist Roundup: Exercise in a Bottle

This piece complains that Small Business Saturday remains in the shadow of the more famous day which precedes it. Meanwhile, this article reports that skilled young people may be returning to their…
December 2, 2014

A Different Approach to Money in the Household

“So if one doesn’t know how to make use of it, Critobulus, then money must be kept at such a distance that it isn’t even included among one’s assets.” Socrates,…
December 2, 2014

Thanksgiving Reflection III: Unbought Grace

Hidden Springs Lane. It’s raining. Yesterday we were told to expect 4-8 inches of snow. I was looking forward to the snow. Getting a good snow for Thanksgiving somehow seemed…
Mark T. Mitchell
November 27, 2014

Thanksgiving Reflection II: Modestly Thankful

I am ambivalent about Thanksgiving. Giving thanks is not a problem though I am sure I could show more gratitude especially when stuck behind some driver in the passing lane…
November 27, 2014

A Localist View of Ferguson

I've had a number of students over the past few days ask me for my opinion of the events in Ferguson, MO. They register shock when I tell them I…
Jeff Polet
November 26, 2014

A Good Wife

“Nothing is better for man than a good wife...” Hesiod, Works and Days One might wonder whether that is an overstatement. It was once suggested to me that Thanksgiving is…
November 26, 2014

Back to the Farm

When "progressive" means doing things the way your grandparents did.
Jeff Polet
November 25, 2014

New Managing Editor

I am pleased to announce J. Arthur Bloom will be the new managing editor at FPR. Jordan comes to us with a great deal of experience both as an editor…
Jeff Polet
November 24, 2014

Recognizing the Religion of Total Security, and Its Costs

There are relatively few developments in the world's present socio-economic and cultural moment that gives me much hope--but one of them is the increased frequency in which I see people…
November 24, 2014

Monday Morning Brass Spittoon

A special Thanksgiving Edition will be appearing Wednesday.
Jeff Polet
November 24, 2014

Anarchism, Global Citites, and a Confucian Cosmopolitan Education

[Cross-posted to In Medias Res] I recently attended a conference in Nanjing, China, hosted by the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and organized our fellow Porcher, Adam Webb. You can read a short…
November 21, 2014

Localist Roundup: Stop Black Thursday

This piece offers some criticism of trends in the local food movement. Meanwhile, this article condemns excess and waste in the use of food. This article contends that current American…
November 20, 2014

Text Neck

Yep, there is such a thing.
Jeff Polet
November 20, 2014

Caring for Elderly Parents

The ever-reliable, always-interesting Bill Schambra has a very good piece over at NPQ on the difficulties of caring for one's parents in a managerial age. Schambra highlights the ways in…
Jeff Polet
November 20, 2014

FPR at TAC

Gracy Olmstead attended the FPR conference in Louisville and gives this fine description of the conference and the localist ideals animating FPR. Excerpt: One elderly gentleman sat with his wife…
Mark T. Mitchell
November 19, 2014

The Land of Storybooks

At evening when the lamp is lit, Around the fire my parents sit; They sit at home and talk and sing, And do not play at anything. Now, with my…
November 19, 2014

No Monday Morning Roundtable Today

Wherein my travel plans interfere with my duties.
Jeff Polet
November 17, 2014

Playing With Turtles

Spring Arbor, MI (Editor's note: Like any real front porch, FPR seeks to be a place where children are valued and welcome. Much of what we do seeks the seriousness…
November 14, 2014

Localist Roundup: Now With Even More Black Friday

This piece counts the cost of U.S. military action against ISIS. In other news, Wal-Mart is set to make Black Friday a Thanksgiving week-long event. Meanwhile, this piece criticizes nostalgia…
November 13, 2014

The Bombadil Option

Manchester, CT “Old Tom Bombadil is a merry fellow, Bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow. None has ever caught him yet, for Tom, he is the…
November 13, 2014

If Sartre is Right

“If man…is indefinable, it is because at first he is nothing. Only afterward will he be something, and he will himself have made what he will be. Thus, there is…
November 12, 2014

A Little Home Cooking

Richmond, VA I do not think it outrageous, every now and then, to despair for the future of cooking in this country. Not all the time, no, for there are…
November 11, 2014

Slaughtering Pigs Today

Today begins the annual pig slaughter at my home. It is always a momentous occasion. Of its many unforgettable moments I think my favorite is when the pig’s carcass has…
November 7, 2014