Backgrounder: Killing Off Townships
by Mark Franke “That government is best which governs least,” is a quote often attributed to Thomas Jefferson but actually belongs to Henry David Thoreau in his essay on civil disobedience. What Jefferson did say is “the government closest to the people serves the people best.” Each of these noble sentiments spring to mind regarding Read the full article…
Keating: ‘Searching for Hope, Life at a Failing School’
Searching for Hope: Life at a Failing School in the Heart of America Matthew Tully Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2012 (261 pages) by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis was founded in 1895 to provide training in such fields as mechanics, drafting, and the domestic arts. However, for most Read the full article…
Morris: The ‘Perfect’ Generation
by Leo Morris My work here is done. Those of us who go into journalism learn so much about so many things we eventually think we know everything there is to know about the human condition. Those of us who go on to become editorial writers and columnists feel an obligation to share that knowledge Read the full article…
Backgrounder: The Value of Well-Functioning Households
by Maryann O. Keating, Ph.D. In a pre-digital age, a municipal department of public assistance was swamped with paper files generated by open welfare cases. In the summer of 1968, graduate students, including this writer, were hired to summarize files, documenting home visitations, onto standardized forms. Each analyst was expected to evaluate each case on Read the full article…
Half Past the Month
A FAVORITE QUIP comes from the provost at my daughter’s college. In a moment of candor during freshman orientation he told us parents that there is only one thing in the world that is exactly as it seems — “professional wrestling.” I would add to that, “political proposals to fix imbalances of any sort in Read the full article…
Morris: Eli Whitney and the Statue Police
by Leo Morris Eli Whitney is one of my favorite forgotten giants of American history. Not completely forgotten. He invented the cotton gin. Many Americans know that about him. But that is the sum total of their knowledge. And his life was so much more consequential than that. Most people can only dream of having an enduring Read the full article…
