America is a great country–the greatest, as far as Americans are concerned. But its future is threatened, and we same Americans are the threat. I am talking about our nation’s deteriorating financial condition, perpetrated by all of us, and especially by the government that represents us. It is easy to ignore this national decline. Even in these […]
Is the Madisonian Republic dead?
March 21, 2011 by
Eric Posner and Adrian Vermeule have an interesting new book out that is going to raise the ire of folks on both the right and the left: “The Executive Unbound: After the Madisonian Republic.” Are we in a post-Madisonian republic? I’ve not read it yet, but just the description on Amazon seems to indicate that what the book […]
Book Review: “Rubicon” by Tom Holland
March 14, 2011 by
I recently finished “Rubicon” by Tom Holland. What follows is first the Publisher’s Weekly review, because it gives a good summary of the book, and then my thoughts on this excellent book. After a palace coup demolished the reign of King Tarquin of Rome in 509 B.C., a republican government flourished, providing every person an […]
the price we pay for not being born mud-turtles
February 18, 2011 by
“However, American conservatives are caught in the web of their careless antigovernment rhetoric. They are partially immobilized by their uneasy consciences about government power. This uneasiness derives from their libertarian tendency–from an economic predisposition pressed into service as political philosophy. This question must be asked: If conservatives do not want to use government power in […]
Book Review: “The Unincorporated Man” by Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin
February 16, 2011 by
Science-fiction is a far cry from the world of the law, politics, and the other drivel I muse about on this blog. Recently, however, I ran across a book that takes an interesting and speculative look at all those topics. I read it and enjoyed it, and I found the thought experiment insightful and mind-popping. […]
“Statecraft as Soulcraft: What Government Does” by George Will
January 28, 2011 by
Cover of Statecraft as Soulcraft I recently picked up an old book by one of the more articulate columnists and thinkers I enjoy reading, “Statecraft as Soulcraft: What Government Does” by George Will. In this circa 1983 book, Will writes in tight, literate sentences, unraveling the genealogy of conservatism, questioning what it is that conservatives really believe. […]
An aside: a book review at Walker of Worlds
January 20, 2011 by
Cover via Amazon Just a quick note: several months ago, one of the book review sites I follow issued a request for, of all things, book reviews, specifically in the fantasy or science fiction genres. I had just started Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings, and I shot Mark Chitty, the blog’s owner, a quick […]
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