It occurred to me, while researching alleged quotations from historical figures, that for every time someone cites a source for a quote, there are about 10,000 instances where people simply stick the purported author’s name under it with an emdash (—), as though it was a sufficient reference. This is quite maddening, because even if … Continued
“I don’t care because it doesn’t affect me.” While speaking recently with a good friend of mine, an anti-drug war activist, she said that phrase frustrated and angered her more than any other. Hers is a common grievance among intellectuals and activists concerned with social welfare. The great dream of Marx and other socialists was … Continued
Classical liberals tend to promise too much when we talk about life under our ideal political institutions. This is not unique among ideological groups. Marx labeled his theory “scientific socialism” because he believed that he had discovered the fundamental pattern of history. His was a theory of everything. Thesis, antithesis, synthesis; capitalism passing into socialism passing … Continued
