We have drifted so far from the physical world that we now speak about reality as if it were a software layer.
Food arrives under plastic and clean lighting, as if it were manufactured by barcode. Money moves without weight. Work happens in files, calls, decks, and glowing rectangles. “The cloud” stores our lives in a phrase so absurd it should embarrass anyone old enough to remember weather. We order, … Read the rest
I don’t enjoy writing this kind of essay. It is the intellectual equivalent of cleaning a greasy kitchen: necessary, unpleasant, and guaranteed to offend the people who insist the smell is “authentic tradition.” But if we’re going to talk honestly about political extremes, you don’t get to treat one side as a dangerous cult and the other as a quirky hobby. Extremes are not philosophies. They are stress reactions with … Read the rest
By Eric Le Roy
Content 18+ As we study history together, I often show documentary films to my students. When these films are about the distant past, there is a voice (or person-moderator) who walks us through the information, using whatever illustrations can be mustered. But as we get nearer to modern times the documentaries come to life: actual human action in black and white. From the late 19th … Read the rest
Content advisory 18+ The great old Englishman Samuel Johnson of the 18th century (back when Englishmen were worthy of the name) once declared that “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”
It is hard for me to know if that statement is comprehensible to all of my readers, so, without meaning to be patronizing, let me break it down. It means, basically, that when an individual has forfeited, through … Read the rest
Today, my dear children, I’ll tell you the true story, the story about a King and three of his sons. The first one, named Arler, was brave and smart, no one could ever beat him. The second one, named Barler, was not so smart, but far more handsome. He was well-known for his affairs. The third one was Carler.
He was born during the thunderstorm, and everyone thought that he … Read the rest
