Category: american society
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Was Reagan A Racist?
One presidential candidate is lighting up the New York Times Opinion page with impassioned attacks and defenses. No, it’s not Barack Obama, Ron Paul, Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, Jon Edwards, Rudy Giuliani, Dennis Kucinich, or Mitt Romney. It’s Ronald Reagan. The crucial question of the day, if you’re reading the New York Times Opinion pages […]
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Review: Yesterday, Raking Leaves
I’ve reviewed quite a few movies in the time I’ve been writing reviews here. I’ve also managed to talk about a few books, a few podcasts, a few web-only video projects. But all of that has been, to varying degrees, frustratingly pedestrian. So today, something truly unusual: a review of my time raking leaves yesterday […]
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The State of the Unions
Believe it or not, there was a time and when the rich and greedy — let’s make them monocled as well — captains of industry had something grave to fear in these United States beyond the possibility that their indefensible tactics would be caught and stopped by government oversight. There was a time when the […]
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The Ron Paul Phenomenon
For those who don’t know, Ron Paul is a Republican candidate for president. His “netroots” are bigger and stronger than any other Republican candidate, perhaps stronger than any other candidate. Any positive story about Ron Paul that makes it to Digg or Reddit is almost certain to make the front page. All of this begs […]
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Technology and Trivia
It’s not unlike a mosquito constantly buzzing near your ear, this idea that we’re killing ourselves with technology. Everyday, it seems, we hear with disdain about people who don’t know their own phone number, don’t know their friend’s number, don’t know how to drive across town without GPS navigation. These things, we’re told, are proof […]
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OPW: “They’ll” by Cheryl Denise
On today’s “Other People’s Words,” a poem by Cheryl Denise about the feeling that society desires conformity above all else. And about maybe leaving it behind. “They’ll” take your soul and put it in a suit, fit you in boxes under labels, make you look like the Joneses. They’ll tell you go a little blonder, […]
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Distinguishing Among the Ignorant
My recent piece entitled “Ignorance is Dangerous” was essentially an angry condemnation of ignorance and the ignorant. In that piece, however, I failed to adequately distinguish between many types of possible ignorance and levels of it, which is essentially my aim here. The first distinction that must be made is one that is, at best, […]
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Ignorance is Dangerous
I’m tired of it. Just plain tired. Ignorance is not now, nor has it ever been, bliss. Bliss–extreme happiness, perhaps spiritual in nature–is not caused by ignorance of the world around you. If discovering the message of Jesus is bliss, than ignorance clearly is not. For it is only through knowledge–becoming aware that Jesus died […]
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Review: American Blackout
I had an inkling that I was in for trouble when I saw the provocative title of this 2006 film. I decided to give it a look anyway. I was rather certain I wouldn’t like it when I saw that this documentary was made by an outfit which calls itself the Guerrilla News Network, which […]
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Generation Q?
Increasingly, I hear something I never thought I would. People are lamenting–yes, lamenting–that this generation of Americans doesn’t engage in enough disorderly and disruptive protests. Something has leached into the cultural zeitgeist that has convinced some of the more liberal powers-that-be that people of my generation are too reserved and too quiet. I first heard […]