Tag: progress
Modernity is a Dirty Diaper
Modernity has become permanently liquid; it no longer seeks solid replacements to the pre-modern world but finds greater value in transience, not just of institutions and things, but of human relationships too.
On the Front Porch with Ursula Le Guin
Those who do know her work might be a bit surprised if I suggest that Le Guin has a real porcher sensibility.
Why I am a Conservative
If you love place, limits, liberty, and think they are words that have meaning, you are probably conservative, and should honor that word also.
But I By Backward Steps Would Move
“The dwarf sees farther than the giant, when he has the giant's shoulder to mount on."
From Olive Trees to Overcapacity
A homogeneous global consumer culture flattens its victims. And, perhaps in the same vein, our meanderings around the dying furniture capital of Yecla turned up nothing: virtually everything on display fitted what has become the decorative style of contemporary Spain: the sort of stuff one might find in a Copenhagen dentist’s office.
After the Econolypse
Hamilton, Ontario. When remembering a family-owned grocery store in rural Virginia, a first image comes to mind, even though I did not actually witness...
Against Pessimism
Alexandria, VA My last post has led some to conclude that I am a pessimist. Even Ross Douthat, among the most perceptive commentators...
Stopping a Streetcar with an Umbrella
It is autumn in Amsterdam and damp. The twilight is coming. I await a streetcar to take me home through the labored-over canals, the...
Notes from the Canal Zone
Claremont, CA. On the flight home, I read an issue of Delta Sky Magazine that listed the Panama Canal as one of “70 Wonders...
Voices Against Progress: What I Learned from Genovese, Lasch, and Bradford
The following is excerpted from Paul Gottfried's Encounters: My Life with Nixon, Marcuse, and Other Friends and Teachers, recently published by ISI Books.
I met...