Many years ago, a wise man named Rev. William J. H. Boetcker wrote these lines: You cannot bring prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You …
Category: culture
May 25 2023
The War And The Bastions
I do like that word bastion. A form of it, Bastian, is also a man’s name, and a most complimentary one at that. A bastion is a stronghold, a difficult-to-assail redoubt that stands athwart the enemy’s campaign. The enemy must be sure to reduce such strongholds completely before continuing on with an invasion, for …
May 16 2023
Chronicles Of The Collapse
Via Arthur Sido: The leader of Minnesota’s Democratic Party says he is calling an emergency meeting this week to “ban individuals engaged in violent assaults” from its ranks after a tense confrontation erupted over the weekend at an event to nominate candidates for a Minneapolis City Council seat. The showdown between supporters …
Mar 27 2023
Undoing The “Not Done”
I hope John Ross, the author of Unintended Consequences, won’t mind the following lengthy excerpt from his book: Joe Columbo was a well-guarded organized crime boss who operated in New York in the ’60s and ’70s. In 1972, a mob rival paid someone to murder Columbo during a New York parade. Knowing that …
Feb 15 2023
I Think I’m Leaving
No, not Long Island. This planet, if possible. But to where? Anywhere else that’s safe from this: In this age of reboots, perhaps it was inevitable: A beloved (by its target audience) and also reviled (by a sizable group outside the core demo) character getting a new look and relaunch. All of which …
Feb 11 2023
Entropy And Discord
“You know what I hate?” – Clive Owen as Smith in Shoot ‘Em Up Courtesy of Hans G. Schantz, I’ve just read this thought-provoking article by Bruce Charlton. Charlton’s concept of entropic pseudo-creation resonated with me immediately: The past century has been characterized (indeed plagued!) by a pseudo-creativity which has usurped true …
Nov 19 2022
A Seed Of Rebellion
Too many are talking about rebellion as if it were exclusively a political act. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rebellion may end in arms, but it begins in the mind: When the liberal arts seemed destined for shipwreck, three men stood up and decided to do something radical at a state …
Nov 18 2022
Depressing Truths Dept.
Shamelessly stolen from Mike Miles: Seldom have so few words expressed so much truth. (Yes, it’s happened; “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life,” for one. I said “seldom,” not “never.”) For maximum impact, answer this question: Who is having babies today, and where? Yes, I’m in one of those …
Oct 11 2022
Impassioned And Accurate
With a small number of exceptions, I find the fictions of John C. Wright not to my taste. However, as a general commentator, the man ranks with the best. Yesterday, he let fly with a jeremiad that Jeremiah would have envied. Have a brief taste: All of our current society, as embodied in …
Sep 27 2022
Some Understand…
And some refuse to: Nothing grows without roots. Giorgia Meloni understands. Donald Trump does, too. Do you?
Aug 26 2022
A Deficit Of Rationality
A man said to the universe: “Sir, I exist!” “However,” replied the universe, “That fact has not created in me A sense of obligation.” — Stephen Crane — I’m in one of those moods this morning. I could slather you with the reasons, but as I’m also feeling charitable, I’ll spare …
Aug 21 2022
Strokes
I’d intended to write a Jeremiad about this bit of viciousness — thank you, John Hinderaker, for bringing that to my attention — but I’m just recently back from Sunday Mass, and events, or perhaps non-events, have pointed me in another direction for today’s tirade. You’re unlikely to read anything else today like …
Aug 08 2022
We Have A Winner In The Ultimate Obscenity Contest
And it’s Walt Disney Corporation: Walt Disney has been cancelled by Walt Disney. Here’s the back story: When Disneyland first opened in 1955, Walt Disney delivered a speech welcoming people to the happiest place on Earth. To all who come to this happy place: Welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here …
Jul 12 2022
Hero Hunger: A Report From 2022
They little knew of brotherhood – The faith of fighting men – Who once to prove their lie was good Hanged Colonel Jacques Chretien. [Gordon R. Dickson, “Brothers”] The C.S.O. and I recently watched this Amazon Prime mini-series and loved it. The headliner and co-producer is Chris Pratt, one of entertainment media’s disfavored for …
Jul 03 2022
Transgressive Artists And Their Transcrap
Count on a lover of words to mangle them artistically. Of course, “art” doesn’t mean what it once did, but we’ll get to that in a moment. “Transgressive” is one of those words: the sort that appear only in very specific contexts. Such words are often used to defy some near-universal understanding, or …
Jun 03 2022
The Need to Defeat Those Exploiting Insanity to Achieve Total Power — UPDATED
RESISTANCE PRESERVES LIBERTY AND DEFENDS SANITY IN THE PROCESS. Only then does social cohesion stand a chance of returning, and the advance of civilization with it — real progress and not the regression sought by Progs. • Screams for diverse goals are identified by social engineers. • Owning the means to amplify screams, they persuade …
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 …
May 11 2022
“Not Done”
Historically, much that is not illegal by statute has been restrained by an unwritten social code. Nineteenth Century England, the closest approach to a classical-liberal polity in Europe of that era, had extensive codes of that sort. Because English society was stratified by class, there were several such codes, which included rules by which …
Feb 27 2022
The Fraying Part 3: Action And Reaction
Through the first and second pieces, the news has all been bad. Now it’s time to review the other consequences of the sociocultural assault on American norms: the ones that hold out some hope for a future of freedom and decency. *** As I’ve written before, word gets around. What people need to …
Sep 01 2021
A Comment On Commentary
Back in the heyday of blogging, everyone and his halfwit Uncle Herman had a blog. There were, at peak, over 50 million such sites. Most, of course, were of no broad consequence: little was posted there, and most of that was worthless. However, they gave their “proprietors” a sense that they could be listened …
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June is Fidelity Month!
Fran’s Recent Novels
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