Culture

We Need to Stop Assuming Progress Is Always Positive 0
- Culture
- January 23, 2020
Franco. Mussolini. Stalin. Hitler. Castro. Mao Ze Dong. Pol Pot. The 20th century was full of dictatorships which reached new heights of cruelty and butchery never imagined in centuries prior. Unfortunately, this cruelty flies in the face of the American belief that progress is undeniable and a decidedly positive force in human history. How did we
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Farewell, Christopher Tolkien. Middle-Earth Is Indebted to You 0
- Culture
- January 23, 2020
Last week in France, and at the age of 95, Christopher John Reuel Tolkien quietly passed away. The headlines of many obituaries and tributes refer to him as the son of J.R.R. Tolkien, which indeed he was. Born in England on November 21, 1924, he was the third of four children of J.R.R and Edith
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A Comparison of Two Very Different Protests 0
- Culture
- January 23, 2020
In mid-January America witnessed two rallies that offer a stark contrast in activism. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, over 22,000 men and women gathered in Richmond, Virginia, to protest the gun laws lawmakers are seeking to enact. Organized by the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL), the rally far surpassed the 10,000 participants the VCDL
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The Battle Between Something and Nothing 0
- Culture
- January 23, 2020
I’m no prognosticator, but in any conflict between Something and Nothing, my money is on Something, every time. I have recently read of one of the wiser uses of money squeezed from American taxpayers. A feminist professor was sent to Afghanistan to reveal to the natives the glories of battling the patriarchy, or something. I
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Raising Autonomous Children Starts at the Dinner Table 0
- Culture
- January 22, 2020
My father’s childhood in small town America was great fodder for the stories he told me growing up. One of these stories revolved around a large sandbox down the block from his home. While playing there one evening, he overheard a conversation from the neighboring Johnson* house. The family was having dinner, but all was
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Why Are Swedish Bureaucrats Channeling Their Inner Michelle Obama?0
- Culture
- January 22, 2020
Sweden is often hailed for its sweeping cultural and political emphasis on the equality of all things. But while the popular discourse tends to center on its progressive economic policies and far-reaching public services, the country’s focus on fairness stretches across the spheres of Swedish society – including, more recently, its school cafeterias. At a local school in
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