Among the critical open secrets of America’s commercial culture is this: High corporate executives are obsessed with their public images. They don’t just want to “make money,” as if operating profitable organizations that provide oodles of jobs while making things people want were somehow trivially dismissible. They want to Leave Their Footprints In The …
Category: charity
Apr 19 2023
Wrong Turnings
Please don’t misinterpret what follows. I love my Church, despite my handful of disagreements with it. But now and then some of its notables go off the rails so dramatically that I’m compelled to take exception to it. The United States has a shortage of Catholic priests. Parishes from coast to coast find …
Mar 08 2023
When Life Improves On Art
There was once a British writer named John Brunner who was given to writing scathing novels about a fictional United States mired in one or another sort of crisis or calamity. His writing was excellent even if his vision was perverse. One of his novels, Stand On Zanzibar, won the Hugo Award at a …
Oct 19 2022
A Rueful Thought
“A man’s got to know his limitations.” – Magnum Force I’ve often ranted about one or another of the virtues, with emphasis laid on the nature of true charity and the importance of humility. However, I don’t want my Gentle Readers to think I consider myself a paragon of those virtues. It’s just …
May 25 2022
Solicitors And Solicitations
No, this won’t be about the British legal system. It’s for any other indie writers in the audience. I suspect there are a few; we tend to “huddle.” I believe in charity: that is, in helping those whose needs are unmet through no fault of their own. (Charity toward those who’ve “made their …
Jan 21 2022
On Not Caring
There are innumerable Causes in circulation these days. You could probably name a dozen off the top of your head, so I feel no need to do so for you. The Cause plague started well before I was born, propelled by early American “progressives” and Communists. The Causes of those early years usually featured …
Nov 27 2021
Perverse Lessons
I wasn’t going to post anything today, as I’m driving toward the end of the novel-under-construction and wanted to reserve the day for that. However, a YouTube video that most would deem quite harmless caught my attention: A sweet story, eh? Yes, it’s nice that the clerk was ultimately rewarded for his kindness. …
Nov 05 2021
Tools For Predation
Every thief has his favorite tools. Car thieves once carried “slim jims” they used to defeat the locks on car doors. House burglars carry whatever will help them to defeat homeowners’ locks and other provisions. Street muggers, of course, carry weapons: knives or guns. Activists “carry” your compassion for others, which they seek …