Last night we bought a bed. Before we did, we had a date. The salmon was as good as I’ve ever had. It lay on a wonderful reduction. She had trout crusted with parmesan and ate it all. Our waiter was an older man, and he was busy. But he had us say our names.… Continue reading The unvanquished
Category: Civil
God and mammon
Oligarchists (to the end they may keep all others out of the government) pretending themselves to be saints, do also pretend that they in whom lust reigns are not fit for reign or for government. But libido dominandi, the lust of government, is the greatest lust, which also reigns most in those that have least… Continue reading God and mammon
Is Elizabeth Warren too conservative for America?
In the eighteenth century the French centralized despotism was viewed as the vehicle of reform and progress; only conservatives such as Montesquieu could see advantages in what was generally held to be the corrupt, disorganized, fractionated and backward English political system. – Samuel P. Huntington, Political Order in Changing Societies (1968) I’m reading a seminal… Continue reading Is Elizabeth Warren too conservative for America?
The point of caprice
As we all know, just after declaring a national emergency, the president said that he didn’t need to. Many think his comment undermines his declaration because emergencies tend to be compelling. These critics, however, assume the rule of law. In saying that he didn’t need to declare an emergency, the president merely stated the facts… Continue reading The point of caprice
Tyranny’s freedoms
American freedom, as most people experience it, could be experienced just as well under tyranny. In fact, because our freedom to do as we please is no less threatened than it was a few years ago, we might complete our slide into tyranny and say with perfect justice to anyone we find in that darkened state, “It’s a free country.”
Executive function
I have just been conversing with one man, to whom no weight of adverse experience will make it for a moment appear impossible, that thousands of human beings might exercise towards each other the grandest and simplest sentiments, as well as a knot of friends, or a pair of lovers. — Ralph Waldo Emerson (“Politics,”… Continue reading Executive function
A history of Jupiter
I’m reading a biography of Emerson to help me through another book, a good history of Transcendentalism. The people who seem to be in constant contact in the latter book – Emerson, Thoreau, Channing, Everett, Alcott – seem miles apart in the bio. That’s understandable: a bio puts people at home. They write letters, they… Continue reading A history of Jupiter
Ilk & elk
Is there a correlation among high ceilings, high church, and the highbrow? Among low ceilings, low church, and the lowbrow? I’m returning to a delicious, low-ceilinged affair on Groundhog’s Day, Graves Mountain Lodge’s annual Wild Game Night. Venison, buffalo, and bear with steak sauce. The last time I was there, February of 2016, I saw a… Continue reading Ilk & elk
Survivors
Alarums. We compared the sounds we use to move us from our dreams to the day to come. And chimes. This morning’s wind, and we spoke of the high-hat cymbals crashing along suburban sidewalks. No low notes. A teacher is a weather system, a symbol on a weather map. Students are the energy that activates… Continue reading Survivors
Action & the news
The Muslim ban began almost two years ago, on January 28, 2017. When a friend texted me about the executive order, I jumped in the car and drove to Dulles Airport, about fifteen minutes from home. I was surprised at the sense of local responsibility that had overcome me. The strangers I met that night… Continue reading Action & the news