Archive for the ‘Society’ Category
No tobacco, no matter: major U.S. cities proposing bans on e-cigarettes
Chicago, New York and other major American cities are considering proposals to prohibit e-cigarettes in public places. The move is another step by authorities to use public health as an excuse to treat us as less than autonomous individuals. About 4 million Americans use battery-powered cigarettes, according to the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association. The growing […]
Standing up to the new paternalists
Today’s nudging elite poses a threat to our everyday freedoms. Read my spiked essay in full here.
Who’s really promoting prejudice?
The pro-Trayvon campaign shows how illiberal “anti-racism” has become. Read my spiked article in full here.
Gay marriage’s echoes of the Cultural Revolution
Politicians publicly renouncing their former beliefs, the youth raging against the elderly… the SSM campaign has eerie echoes of history. Read my spiked article in full here.
Oklahoma: a swirling storm of anti-human prejudice
As people in Oklahoma heroically dealt with their tornado disaster, observers were busy pinning the blame for it on greedy mankind. Read my spiked article in full here.
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 […]