That's been the underlying assumption behind the lament of the way academia has gone: Today, college degrees are utilitarian documents used to secure good jobs. American workism undermines the traditional purposes of higher education, things like the pursuit of knowledge and the development of virtue. John Henry Newman described the goal of a college education …
Changing Our Elites is Where We Start. But From There…
I'm surprised that someone would put it this plainly, but they did: In practice, this means replacing our current elites in government, the media, and universities with a class of “self-conscious aristoi.” This new elite will “secure the foundational goods that make possible human flourishing for ordinary people.” More specifically, this new elite will abolish the …
Continue reading "Changing Our Elites is Where We Start. But From There…"
Watergate: A Personal Reflection
It's that time of the decade again when we look back on the Watergate scandal and how it brought down Richard Nixon and many of those around him. In this case it is the fiftieth anniversary. I usually like to note that at this time of year--the scandal itself drug out for almost two years …
Washington DC is a failed city — Unherd
If you had to pick the exact day when the young, affluent, and oblivious of Washington DC were forced to accept that they live in a failed city, 22 … Washington DC is a failed city Mike Pence might want to consider this…
Admitting the Failure of the Sexual Revolution Without Admitting It
Timothy Fountain's piece That Golden Age of Porn is an honest piece on the era of 1969-1984 when porn was distributed freely (thanks in part to SCOTUS) in print and in theatres. Porn was a major disseminator of the sexual revolution. Tim's major contribution in this piece, however, was to remind everyone of the routine …
Continue reading "Admitting the Failure of the Sexual Revolution Without Admitting It"
The shadow of Pax Romana —Unherd
To his army of ardent followers, Tom Holland has a unique ability to bring antiquity alive. An award-winning British historian, biographer and … The shadow of Pax Romana
The Question of a Weltanschauung (Worldview) by Sigmund Freud (1932) — Books and Boots
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2023/07/07/the-question-of-a-weltanschauung-sigmund-freud/ This is the last in Books and Boots' series on Sigmund Freud, where Freud presents one of his most wide-ranging polemics against Christianity. Reviewing that polemic leads the author to find Freud wanting in his critique, to say the last. Although he gives his own reasons, I have a different take on why Freud's …
Future of an Illusion and other writings on religion by Sigmund Freud — Books & Boots
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2023/07/05/future-of-an-illusion-and-other-writings-on-religion-sigmund-freud/ Another (maybe the last) in this series. It shows that, even for people sympathetic with Freud's project, his atheism doesn't have as strong of a case as he--or those who continue to make that case--thought it did. Includes a summary of a dialogue with Oskar Pfister, a Swiss pastor's son who made a case …
The Question of Lay Analysis by Sigmund Freud (1926) — Books & Boots
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2023/06/28/the-question-of-lay-analysis-sigmund-freud/ This is probably as good of a summary of Freudianism as I have found. What we would probably call today "Cultural Freudianism" was the most powerful force driving American thought (such as it was) in the 1960's and early 1970's. I also think it has ruined our culture by turning life into a hypersexualised …
Continue reading "The Question of Lay Analysis by Sigmund Freud (1926) — Books & Boots"
The Scots-Irish Ride Again on “Holding Banks Accountable”
Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Republican Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance are uniting to introduce legislation announced Thursday to reduce the risks of large bank failures. The Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act would propose harsher penalties for failed bank executives, which serves as a bipartisan response to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in early March, according to Warren’s office. …
Continue reading "The Scots-Irish Ride Again on “Holding Banks Accountable”"
Positive Infinity 