Eichenberger: Common Sense
by Dan Eichenberger M.D. The words “common sense” and “nonsense” are used as weapons in politics today. Each side claims to own reality. Conservatives talk about “obvious truths.” The Left often calls those claims ignorance or cruelty. To understand why these words carry force, and why many policies feel detached from the real world, it helps Read the full article…
The Outstater
Conspiracy or Stupidity, You Choose OUR WOES are not the result of a conspiracy — at least that’s what I keep telling myself. But there is a theory that nags at me. It involves the Cloward-Piven strategy and it works to raise the cost of social-justice programs to the point of societal ruin. More about that later. Read the full article…
Keating: Why Prisons Are Needed
by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. Philosopher and economist, Adam Smith, in The Theory of Moral Sentiment written in 1759, wrote about the dangers to societies characterized by large-scale anger, resentment and a desire for revenge. He outlines a theory of justice and punishment that surprisingly was not primarily grounded in reducing crime. Smith describes certain characteristics of human Read the full article…
The Outstater
Writing for ‘Clicks’ OUR BOOK REVIEWER Mark Franke has written one of his customarily insightful essays, this one on “the end of reading.” I commend it to your attention here. Franke cites a disturbing statistic: less than 50 percent of adults read a single book in 2022. Although I have no statistics, let me offer a corollary Read the full article…
Franke: ‘The End of Reading’
by Mark Franke “The End of Reading Is Here” was the title of an essay link I received in my email from The Atlantic magazine. I would have expected this to be written by a whiny old curmudgeon like me or a librarian worried about her job or even by a retired language arts teacher like my Read the full article…
The Outstater
America: An Idea or Just a Place? THERE IS A DEBATE swirling around the candidacy of Vivek Ramaswamy, the GOP candidate for governor in neighboring Ohio. It is whether America is an idea or just a place. We can resolve it right here. “America isn’t a place, it’s an idea.” Vivek Ramaswamy, July 1, 2021 First, Read the full article…
