Blog posts
How About a Genuine America-First Policy?
If an “America first” policy is supposed to promote American self-interest, the obvious first question is: What defines an entire country’s interest? What public-policy goal can the government pursue that is in everyone’s interest? And the fundamental answer is: our freedom. Your life depends ultimately on your thinking. From the choice of a lifelong career to
The Nature of Fundamentals
Our culture seems incapable of thinking in fundamentals. It is infested with the creed of Pragmatism—the creed which holds that generalizations are “simplistic” because what seems true today may not be true tomorrow, because no two situations are ever the same, because judgments can be made only on an ad hoc, case-by-case basis. Consider the
Analyzing the Hamas Sympathizers
The suffering of others may warrant compassion—but only if the suffering is undeserved. Someone wrongly imprisoned can elicit your compassion–but not someone who is rightly imprisoned for a crime. To sympathize with the latter is to morally betray his victim and to subvert the principle of justice. You can commiserate with a neighbor whose house
Science as Political Orthodoxy
There is an intellectual orthodoxy being imposed by the left, abetted by much of the news media. Certain viewpoints are forbidden—not simply regarded as wrong, but not permitted to be considered. We can observe this attitude at our colleges, where speakers who challenge leftist premises have been forcibly silenced. But it is most entrenched in
Movie Review: APOLLO 11
You wouldn’t think that a movie about the Apollo 11 mission that consists simply of footage shot at the time of the event could present a compelling, inspiring story. Yet this film does just that. This is a documentary that shows, rather than tells. And what it shows is the enormity of the achievement— not
Has the Right Been Eviscerated by Trump?
Once upon a time the left and the right were political opposites. The left condemned capitalism and sought to expand government’s role in our lives; the right defended capitalism and endorsed limited government. Over the years, although the right became less and less committed to individual freedom and capitalism, it nonetheless presented a discernible alternative to the collectivism of the left.