Sheriff Billy Woods of Marion County, Florida, holds that children who commit violent crimes need to be held accountable and calls for parents and schools to take more responsibility in raising children. He criticized "society," "school districts,” and gun law rhetoric after announcing the arrests of two juveniles, one of whom is 12 years old,Continue reading "The Second Word in Gun Violence"
On Taxes and Licenses
A tirade against taxes, recently posted on Facebook, recalls something I encountered several years ago when I sought information from my home state about professional licensing. The Facebook post, which sets out initially to describe the scale of the number one billion, contains the following (unedited) list of taxes and "fees" (a euphemism for taxes).Continue reading "On Taxes and Licenses"
Wealth from a Child’s Perspective
I believe that this same fallacious two-level concept of money – you’re either someone who never had it and never will or you’re someone who always had all you wanted and always will – is held by most poor-from-birth people today, and not just while they are children but also as adults. What’s more, I suspect that stratification of people into socio-economic classes is driven from below as much as it is from above. I don’t believe that those born into money perceive the gulf as readily as those born into none. Those with money, (as I would have sorted them out as a child), aren’t as conscious of their “stratum.” It’s especially those who have enough (however much that is, but that’s where I am today), but who aren’t really wealthy, who are the least likely to realize that they are lumped in with the super-rich, by those who have nothing.
Is This Forgiveness?
I didn’t realize until now that The Onion leans toward the delusions of collectivism — (left, new liberal, socialist; choose your flag). Inasmuch as I read a clip from it perhaps only a couple times a year I hadn’t looked at it enough to notice. Plainly, though, it struggles to deliver satire as effortlessly asContinue reading "Is This Forgiveness?"
George Orwell’s 1940 Review of Mein Kampf
It is a sign of the speed at which events are moving that Hurst and Blackett’s unexpurgated edition of Mein Kampf, published only a year ago, is edited from a pro-Hitler angle. The obvious intention of the translator’s preface and notes is to tone down the book’s ferocity and present Hitler in as kindly a lightContinue reading "George Orwell’s 1940 Review of Mein Kampf"
Ukraine: A Settlement
If you don’t condemn Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin as a villainous tyrant, if you don’t call for regime change in Russia, and if you don’t demand that the rest of the world arrest and prosecute him on charges of mass murder, you may as well call him Vladimir the Great and prepare to applaud his next conquest.
Cossacks Writing a Letter to the Sultan of Turkey
Regarding the post, Ukraine and Your Future, the painting by Ilya Yefimovich Repin is titled "Cossacks Writing a Letter to the Sultan of Turkey" and this is a modern-day approximation of the legendary correspondence between the two parties. Ukraine's response to Vladimir Putin has put me in mind of this splendid story: Turkish Sultan MehmedContinue reading "Cossacks Writing a Letter to the Sultan of Turkey"
Ukraine and Your Future
It’s only three weeks into Russia’s murderous assault on its neighboring country, but Ukraine fatigue is already setting in. If you are one of those Americans, ignorant of that region’s geography and history and feeling sorry for the Russians killed in Ukraine’s resistance, this brief piece will not untangle your confusion. It may prod youContinue reading "Ukraine and Your Future"
Does My Mask Hurt Your Freedom?
To those who have suddenly come to the defense of my freedom not to wear a mask, how about joining me by the millions to defend my freedom not to fund a corrupt government?
Facebook’s Yawning Arrogance
It has been a long time since I was last reminded how small and insignificant I am -- thank you, Facebook. I suppose that I too could refuse to accept all mail and refuse as well to be contacted in any way. And I could pretend at the same time to be a friendly entity that encourages people to communicate with one another.
Albert Jay Nock 