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The Agenda: Political or Economic?
Irving, TX. The Front Porch Republic has been graced by two contributions from Mark Mitchell and Caleb Stegall on the political agenda for front-porchers. And while one may quibble with…
Third Party?
Kearneysville, WV. The race for New York’s 23rd Congressional District’s open seat has garnered national attention. The Democratic candidate, Bill Owens, is currently running a few points behind Doug Hoffman,…
The Front Porch Agenda?
With all the talk about "what is to be done," in terms of a decentralizing political agenda, I thought I'd throw some ideas out there, with the intent only of…
You’re Probably Looking For Porn
Claremont, CA. If you don’t want to read the new report from Harvard Business School, titled “Understanding Users of Social Networks,” you can just listen to the song from Avenue…
Progressive Liberalism Or: How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love Big Government
American Liberalism: An Interpretation for Our Time by John McGowan. (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2007). Moorpark, CA. If the current administration is liberal, it matters what kind…
Mobbed Up: When Turning the Other Cheek Only Gains Another Slap
Washington, Ct. In his wonderful 1974 book entitled The Roots of American Order, Russell Kirk remarks upon the British and how they are able to "muddle through" periods of social…
The Emperor’s Old Clothes
I wonder whether anyone else finds it, if not quite ominous, at least suggestive, that the National Constitution Center is now hosting a traveling show on the Emperor Napoleon. The…
Nation at the Crossroads
RINGOES, NJ. The world is hunkered down. For some months now we have been holding our collective breath, waiting to see if the financial meltdown is going to stabilize or…
Causes and Lessons of the Current Economic Crisis
ERIE, PA. As a new contributor to the Front Porch Republic, I would like to thank Mark Mitchell for his invitation to participate in what is shaping up to be…
The (“Post-“) Modern Cave: An Allegory of the University
Mt. Airy, Philadelphia. Imagine human beings brought up from childhood in a cave, bound fast with their heads all facing one direction. On the wall before them they see only…
Food and Freedom
RINGOES, NJ. Isn’t it interesting how quickly speculation becomes conventional wisdom? Back in the fall, when we began to hear rumblings of economic catastrophe, things were a bit vague. Most…
What our Hands Have Wrought
RINGOES, NJ. In the fall of 2008, Americans were confronted with frightening news. The financial world was, the experts warned, teetering on the brink of disaster. Politicians from both parties…