The Stump
Kill Your Epistemic Arrogance
When the algorithm identifies someone as a “gang member” based on human-generated criteria, the model’s “ground truth,” however flawed, becomes a stand-in for reality.
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Clearing Ground
The romantic impulse toward wholeness, or the longing for when things were better—take a few bad turns in that mood, and you find yourself chanting hymns to blood-and-soil. People can start out…
What He Saw in America: G.K. Chesterton’s View of the United States
Front Royal, VA. “Who is the American, this new man?” Crevecoeur famously asked. Since the discovery and settlement of the continent across the Atlantic, European intellectuals have expended much energy answering this…
The Diseases that Kill Republics: Insights from Ancient Rome’s Epidemics
Italy’s tragic status as one of the worst-hit nations is a reminder of its predecessor, the Roman Republic, which endured dozens of epidemics in a history that lasted from 509 to 42…
Forget Karen, Think Lisa
It was the reaction I had seen so often in public school classrooms from teacher's pets: Conformity is always the right course. Rocking the boat is disruptive. Teachers and principals know what's…
Common Good or Common Fear
In times of crisis a common fear can elicit behavior that appears similar to actions born of a commitment to the common good.
Coming Home, COVID-19 Style: A Moment to Reconsider the Natural Family
The lengthy drift from family to individual as the primary social unit carries an alluring promise of autonomy and individualism which sounds so good, so freeing, but it comes up lacking in…
“And the Word Was Made Flesh”: Placing Ethnicity in the Gospels and Making Conservative Politics Humane
It is a recognition of the beauty and goodness of ethnic diversity combined with a message of universal love and mercy that should be at the heart of a true Christian politics.
Remembering After Coronavirus
Shortly after the 2001 terrorist attacks, Wendell Berry wrote, “The time will soon come when we will not be able to remember the horrors of September 11 without remembering also the unquestioning…
COVID-19: Crisis and Opportunity
Perhaps this crisis, while revealing the fragility of many aspects of American society, can at the same time provide opportunities for a recovery.
Call Me Lucifer
Alexa is no doubt low-hanging fruit for the readers of Front Porch Republic. It is a place-contaminating, unlimited tyrant. If you've purchased one, watch out. When the lights start pulsing and your…
Why Love Belongs in Politics
Lubbock, TX. One month ago, the Senate concluded the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. The process was almost purely partisan: Republicans, who control the Senate, stymied Democrats’ attempts to secure the…
The Road Back from Impeachment: Are We There Yet?
So why am I against all these impeachments, investigations and inquiries? It is because in every one of these instances, the ultimate goal, far outweighing any truly high-minded purpose, is a transparently…
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