Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Tale of Two Cultures (America and Russia)

When events do not make sense or are such as sense cannot untie,(1) an option is to forget all about them – the head-in-the-sand solution. Another is to remember that man is but a quintessence of dust (2) and often, … Continue reading

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Democracy in America

Words being arbitrary, they owe their power to association, and have the influence which custom has given them – for language is the dress of thought. Therefore on hearing the words “Democracy in America,” some will think of Alexis de … Continue reading

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The Masking of the Obvious

An Eastern monarch, of whom we know the existence but not the name, kept an officer in his house whose employment it was to remind him of his mortality, by calling out every morning at a stated hour, “Remember prince … Continue reading

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The Curious History of American Exceptionalism

Francois Mitterrand, the longest serving president of France (1981-1985), not long before he died (1996), made this quite extraordinary statement: “France does not know it, but she is at war with America. A permanent, vital, economic war, and only apparently … Continue reading

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Washington’s Bastille

Trump’s supporters, having found the vanity of conjecture and inefficacy of expectations, resolved to prove their own existence, if not by violence, at least by physical presence. They came forth into the crowded capital with an almost juvenile ambition that … Continue reading

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Science and Fiction

In all mass phenomena it is uncertain whether to believe the scientists as the infallible voices of truth, or if, in their explanation of some events, we see but the dimming of the light of reason. For in the current … Continue reading

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Another View of the EU (European Union)

The MacDonaldization of words forces many to lay that reason asleep which disturbs their gayety. Among recent new entries is ‘Brexit’, a word suitable to a speaking-club made of millions, where most half-hear what, if they heard the whole, they … Continue reading

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Red-Wine, Health-Care, Shakespeare & Capitalism

Those who follow the reigning fashion, or from fashion borrow their taste, will have observed that, after a de-facto 20 years of relative unpopularity, red wine has undergone a commercial and cultural renaissance. Not that it was ever dead, but … Continue reading

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The Power of Aesthetics in Learning

This article was written for the Rocketship Education Home School. John Locke, famous British empiricist, philosopher and father of Liberalism, asserted that, “The chief art of learning is to attempt but a little at a time.” The aphorism seems obvious. … Continue reading

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Brief History of Revisionism

On hearing the word ‘revisionism,’ suspicion lurks in the mind of some, and alarms sound in the mind of others. Suspicion is the elder sister of twins, credulity and incredulity. And of all kinds of credulity, the most obstinate and … Continue reading

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