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The Same Direction as Rome? Last week I discussed the parallels between the late republican period of Rome, just before it morphed into an explicitly autocratic empire, and the United States today. This week’s question: is the U.S. headed down the same path as the late Roman republic? I left off in the year 133 …
Now that the Federal Reserve is on the front pages for timidly starting to raise rates in the face of 9%+ general price increases, and with the U.S. continuing it’s dangerous war policy in Ukraine, it is a good time to revisit a post from 2018. U.S. monetary and imperial war policy are as intertwined …
Background Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks an internet based journalistic enterprise, is a hairsbreadth away from being deported from Great Britain and extradited to the United States. In the U.S. he faces charges under the seldom used Espionage Act of 1917. If convicted in the U.S., he faces what is effectively a life sentence. …
The Infantilism of Government Policy All government policy treats people as infants. I have made this claim before in a couple of different contexts. It is true both in the way government assumes that we cannot make decisions for ourselves, and it is true in the way government goes about its business. This is an …
It strikes me that a free society is a necessary yet not sufficient condition for a just and humane society. Yet, there are things that are antecedent to a free society. There are certain core, foundational values that are needed before one can erect a free polity. Chief among these core foundational values are tolerance …
As there are signs that some of the most severe reactions to the Covid-19 pandemic are beginning to be lightened, it is necessary to begin to contemplate the costs of the authoritarian government response. Unlike those I have criticized for claiming certainty where there is none, I will start out by stating plainly that I …
Yes, the pandemic could have been very different, and it should have been very different. I don’t mean what could have happened if we had not allowed our healthcare market to become completely distorted over the last 75-100 years. So many problems would have been avoided if we had never subsidized demand via government programs …
I hope that it is becoming apparent to those who remain rational that the main problem in our current panic state is the government. “Panic” buying of toilet paper and other shelf stable products to stock up the pantries of America is actually a rational response to a government that threatens and, in some cases, …
A greater contagion than Covid-19 is fear. I dearly detest quoting FDR, but he was correct in stating that the only thing to fear is fear itself. If it’s one thing that Jesus consistently said was, not to be afraid. God is in control of all of His creation and He will consummate it in …
This week’s Scripture readings are some of what I would call classics of “political texts”. They all deal with power and humanity’s relationship to God via our use of power. The Old Testament reading is from Genesis and is the story of Original Sin. It is notable that Original Sin is not simply disobedience. In …