In my last posted essay, “Leisure, the Basis of Culture”: Ends and Means., I tried to distinguish between ends of shorter- or longer-term. I came to a humbling conclusion that we can’t shape the future but only “intend towards the goals of a good human life and also good communal lives, morally well-ordered lives with … [Read more…]
This article hardly surprises me: Belief in Hell, According to International Data, Is Associated With Reduced Crime. The findings summarized in the article also don’t make me happy. I would advise against any major effort to scare sinners away from Hell because that doesn’t mean they will necessarily go to Heaven. If they do go … [Read more…]
The state as we know it in the United States and most countries in this year of 2011 can’t be limited without destroying that state. This is because — in Jeffersonian terms — the state as it currently exists in most countries is an instrument of a vague group of human beings which we could … [Read more…]
I haven’t had any health-care for ten years or more. Haven’t seen a doctor. Have only had special blood-tests when donating blood a few times. I’ve been lucky for sure but it’s also likely that I’ve gotten good advice from non-interventionist doctors who told me to avoid the medical system as much as possible. To … [Read more…]
Here’s a link to a good article about some specific problems which have developed in the Medicare system, resulting in fraud: The Systemic Nature of Medicare Fraud. Some of us are crooks for sure. Why do those crooks all of a sudden have the power to bankrupt our society and destroy our middle-class prosperity? Years … [Read more…]
In the poem The Sycamore, Wendell Berry straddles some no man’s land between metaphysics and theology and poetry to give an interestingly aslant and insightful definition of narrative: It [the sycamore] has gathered all accidents into its purpose. As characters in the narratives which are our individual lives, we should gather all accidents into our … [Read more…]
We usually think of entities of mixed biological and non-biological components as being monsters though good experience with prosthetics has perhaps eased that prejudice a lot. (I use ‘prejudice’ in a non-judgmental way as some prejudices are valid and some aren’t, some are dangerous to others and our own selves and some are not.) Is … [Read more…]
I’m trying to deal with a problem I feel to be at the foundation of a body of thought which I generally admire — libertarianism of the Old Right and Rothbardian sort. On the whole, my attitude is similar to my attitude towards Jamesian pragmatism. For a discussion of that attitude, see my earlier articles … [Read more…]
I’ve just listened to the former CIA analyst, Ray McGovern, as he spoke about his moment of cowardice — when he learned of a memo from General Creighton Abrams which revealed the Army commanders in Saigon were deliberately lying about enemy strength. Mr. McGovern was a young CIA analyst and thought about revealing it to … [Read more…]
There is a short animated sequence to be found at Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics [Animation] which shows how a warm and nurturing style of mothering by a mouse removes brain ‘markers’ which might otherwise lead to the young growing into fearful and anxiety-ridden adults, the females likely tending to pass on those traits to their … [Read more…]