When I was a young lad long ago in the bland, faceless, smugly prosperous America of the 1950s, I had an itch to be somewhere else. As I heard the expression put first on the TV series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, I would indulge myself regularly in a game called “Anywhere but Here.” The Germans have a beautiful word for it: Wanderlust.
But … Read the rest
Rationality, if you think about it, is the least celebrated form of heroism. It has no anthem, no flag, no stadium. Yet it has saved more lives than courage ever did. Commander Spock, that calm half-human mirror to our chaos, is the perfect metaphor: the eyebrow that rises when others shout, the voice that says “calculate” when everyone else says “pray.” Logic, done properly, is erotic — not in the … Read the rest
Rationality, if you ask me, is deeply erotic. Commander Spock, that cool monument of logic, never had to flex muscles or shout in stadiums to attract attention. His power was quieter: the sharp eyebrow, the stillness of someone who has calculated every path through chaos and chosen the least destructive. Rationality, in its true form, is the art of long-term seduction — the kind that promises civilization itself might survive … Read the rest
In politics as in physics, energy without work becomes wasted heat. A statesman may radiate heat—boasts, ultimatums, and gusts of indignation—yet accomplish little if no force is actually applied along a clear line of action. Over time, the system notices. Entropy, in this case, takes the form of diminishing credibility.
Consider a leader fond of superlatives, negotiating with a hard, continental power on his frontier—an autocracy that redraws maps … Read the rest
By Eric Le Roy
Content 18+ I would like to respond to Artem’s well-conceived article called “The Strength Paradox.” While acknowledging the dramatic galvanizing prowess of the Man with the Plan, Artem opines that the inherent danger lurking in the brain of the unchained game-changer is the possibility, ever-looming, that it will all go to his head. The inspiring revolutionary becomes the tyrant; the religious messiah … Read the rest
