Pascal’s Wager and Climate Change
Industrialists, politicians and propagandists in their employ dismiss reports of destructive climate change caused by human activity as mere speculation. If you can’t conclusively prove your claims, they say, your theories are worthless and should be ignored. In order to protect their own commercial and political advantages, they reject suggestions that civilization may be severely…
Thankful for Taxpayers
Before Thanksgiving weekend 2011 passes into history, let us be thankful for people who pay their taxes, because they are supporting the people who don’t. Benjamin Franklin famously wrote that “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Indeed, civilization cannot exist without taxes, by which we pay for…
Cooperating for America
Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton and Omar N. Bradley “were immensely ambitious.” So says The New York Times, reviewing the recently published summary of their relationship, “Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe,” by Jonathan W. Jordan. Like many politicians in Washington today, these three…
Twilight by Ellen Roberts Young
The half-light of half-learned lessons cuts us off from elders of the sharp-edged pagan years. Outlined by evening sky they walk toward prayer, leaning over their lamps. By flickering…
Vox Populi in Zuccotti Park
The proverb “Vox populi, vox Dei” – “The voice of the people [is] the voice of God” – can be traced back to the eighth century, though earlier origins are probable. Yet the eighth-century version, considered in its entirety, actually meant the opposite of what most people think today. In a 798 A.D. letter to…
Saved by the Sun
A Reuters exclusive posted by journalist Jim Wolf, “Orbital Solar Power Plants Touted for Energy Needs” http://blogs.reuters.com/jim-wolf, describes a fantasy project with the potential to provide civilization with energy for centuries to come. Indian and U.S. space scientists propose that power plants be placed in orbit to collect solar energy and beam it to Earth….
In Defense of Chores
More effective national leadership and better weapons systems are less likely to assure the future of our nation than is the resurrection of chores. Chores are a voluntary cost-free resource for upgrading America. Chores Matter Chores are one of the most important chapters in the encyclopedia of parenting. Vital training is absent when a child’s…
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A Critical Leadership Alliance
Billions of people confidently declare that God is their leader. Then what happens? Those billions of people make trillions of personal decisions every day. These self-leadership decisions are defining the future of civilization. Men Still Rule
Redux: Scary Halloween
Fear comes alive on Halloween. Halloween costumes are practical technology designed to simplify our joking about frightening subjects. The ghosts and the goblins are the outside joke. The inside joke is death. Halloween is the night when death walks around our neighborhoods dressed like a common Joe as if to remind us of its inevitability….