Archive for the ‘Society’ Category
Scourge of the elites
Christopher Lasch was a fearless iconoclast who defied left and right labels. Love him or loathe him, you need to grapple with his ideas if you want to understand today’s big political and moral debates. Read my review of Eric Miller’s Hope in a Scattering Time: A Life of Christopher Lasch, published in the spiked [...]
Mead on the pessimism of today’s liberal elites
For the past year or so, Walter Russell Mead has written extensively on The American Interest website about the steady disintegration of the post-New Deal social order, which he calls the “blue social model”. Mead, a professor at Bard College and a prolific blogger, argues that we cling to old notions, even as our economy and society have [...]
After Newtown: panicked safety measures turning schools into prisons
Following Newtown, most of the media coverage is focused on the debate over gun control. We are waiting to hear the proposals that emerge from the commission headed by Vice President Joe Biden, which is due to be announced this week. But whether or not Washington decides to pass new laws, important changes are happening [...]
Newtown: a “9/11 for gun control”?
Both liberals and the right responded to the dreadful Sandy Hook massacre by denigrating liberty. Read my spiked article in full here.
Some thoughts on the current situation
As we enter a New Year, I’ve been reflecting about the past year or so in politics, and wondering where things might head in 2013. I thought I would share some points that came to mind about our situation today. “Events” Politics seem more event-driven. By this, I mean that a particular incident or news item can drive [...]
Evidence that the “war on obesity” is not worth fighting
For years we’ve been told that America is engaged in a “war on obesity” that requires government action at the federal, state and local level. Government-backed research conducted by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have categorized more than a third (36 percent) as obese, and about seven in 10 as overweight and obese. Obesity is often [...]
The consensus after Newtown: let’s curtail freedom
Following the mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, there appears to be a great debate going on between those who want to see greater controls on guns, and those who are opposed to such controls. But a focus on the back-and-forth arguments over guns overlooks the fact that there is an underlying consensus in the response. [...]
Ignore the “moral statisticians”, enjoy life (and Thanksgiving)!
On the occasion of Thanksgiving, when Americans indulge in lots of food and drink while gathering with family and friends, it is worth noting that celebrations like this are great rejoinders to the killjoy health nannies out there. In 1893 Mark Twain wrote a brilliant essay called “The Moral Statisticians”, in which he does not mince his [...]
The Democrats’ “New Clerisy”
Joel Kotkin has a very perceptive article in The Daily Beast on the new Democratic Party coalition formed under President Barack Obama. I’ve often struggled with coming up with a term that summarizes the variety of interest groups that comprise this coalition and their outlook, and Kotkin has come up with one that may be [...]
Enlightened liberals vs chicken-chewing morons
The Chick-fil-A controversy in America reveals just how illiberal and intolerant supporters of same-sex marriage are becoming. Read my spiked article in full here.