Spinoza and the Unrest of Capitalism
Essay - “To succumb to pressure to suppress or disguise his true beliefs would have been, for Spinoza, a concession equivalent to defeatist self-abnegation.” (1/13/2025)
Essay - “To succumb to pressure to suppress or disguise his true beliefs would have been, for Spinoza, a concession equivalent to defeatist self-abnegation.” (1/13/2025)Jimmy Carter: A Man Ahead of His Time
Essay - “It should be noted, however, that President Carter was not only the Great Humanitarian. He was also the Great Deregulator.” (1/5/2025)
Essay - “It should be noted, however, that President Carter was not only the Great Humanitarian. He was also the Great Deregulator.” (1/5/2025)Letter: Reflecting on “These People All Know Each Other”
Essay - “Collegiality may grease the wheels of society, but when does it become dysfunctional or oppressive? Or, to raise another question, what are the advantages of rudeness?” (1/3/2025)
Essay - “Collegiality may grease the wheels of society, but when does it become dysfunctional or oppressive? Or, to raise another question, what are the advantages of rudeness?” (1/3/2025)Editor’s Choice: Notable Articles in 2024
Essay - “Reviving a Merion West tradition, I present here a list, though not a ranking, of some of my favorite articles that Merion West has published this year.” (12/31/2024)
Essay - “Reviving a Merion West tradition, I present here a list, though not a ranking, of some of my favorite articles that Merion West has published this year.” (12/31/2024)In Reply to Walter Block: Sticking with Democratic Socialism
Essay - “Of course, the question of whether healthcare should be socialized is only a small piece of my general disagreement with [Walter] Block on political economy. Still, it is a vivid enough example to stand in for all the bigger questions.” (12/30/2024)
Essay - “Of course, the question of whether healthcare should be socialized is only a small piece of my general disagreement with [Walter] Block on political economy. Still, it is a vivid enough example to stand in for all the bigger questions.” (12/30/2024)Our Life-World, Its Enemies, and the Enduring Power of Common Sense Essay - “Similarly distinct from the regular life-world is the world of academic theory, in which, as in the fantasy world, theoretical constructs are often divorced from any dependency on practical outcomes.” (12/28/2024)
Essay - “Similarly distinct from the regular life-world is the world of academic theory, in which, as in the fantasy world, theoretical constructs are often divorced from any dependency on practical outcomes.” (12/28/2024)A Three-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Essay - “As Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said on the White House lawn in 1993 during the Oslo Accords, the progenitor initiative of what is required exactly now: ‘Enough of blood and tears. Enough.” (12/23/2024)
Essay - “As Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said on the White House lawn in 1993 during the Oslo Accords, the progenitor initiative of what is required exactly now: ‘Enough of blood and tears. Enough.” (12/23/2024)Rejoinder to Ben Burgis: The Case for Laissez-Faire Capitalism
Essay - “According to that tried and true statement, ‘wealthier is healthier.’ Free enterprise leads to greater wealth and, thus, to greater health and longevity, ceteris paribus.” (12/19/2024)
Essay - “According to that tried and true statement, ‘wealthier is healthier.’ Free enterprise leads to greater wealth and, thus, to greater health and longevity, ceteris paribus.” (12/19/2024)Start Making Sense: “Say Hello to Metamodernism” Essay - “Just as [Greg] Dember’s generation inherited modernism and felt a need to rebel, today’s younger generations have inherited postmodernism and no doubt feel the same urge to keep the sense of cultural evolution progressing.” (12/17/2024)
Essay - “Just as [Greg] Dember’s generation inherited modernism and felt a need to rebel, today’s younger generations have inherited postmodernism and no doubt feel the same urge to keep the sense of cultural evolution progressing.” (12/17/2024)The Case for Democratic Socialism
Essay - “Capitalism has done much to develop the economic machinery of the modern world to the point where all of this is possible. But it is long since time to move past the capitalist phase of our history and institute something better.” (12/7/2024)
Essay - “Capitalism has done much to develop the economic machinery of the modern world to the point where all of this is possible. But it is long since time to move past the capitalist phase of our history and institute something better.” (12/7/2024)On the Trump Coalition Essay - “The economic situation during the Biden administration eroded and degraded the average American’s ability to participate in the life of the nation as an economically self-sufficient citizen.” (12/6/2024)
Essay - “The economic situation during the Biden administration eroded and degraded the average American’s ability to participate in the life of the nation as an economically self-sufficient citizen.” (12/6/2024)Itching for the Infinite
Essay - “Further examples abound, but suffice to say, at least as far as these prominent modern thinkers were concerned, epicureanism for the masses does seem to denote something quite real.” (12/3/2024)
Essay - “Further examples abound, but suffice to say, at least as far as these prominent modern thinkers were concerned, epicureanism for the masses does seem to denote something quite real.” (12/3/2024)What Europeans Don’t Understand about Trump Essay - “Those Europeans who shake their heads in disbelief at President-elect Trump and his success would do well to consider things, including themselves, from an American and, even more so, a global point of view.” (12/1/2024)
Essay - “Those Europeans who shake their heads in disbelief at President-elect Trump and his success would do well to consider things, including themselves, from an American and, even more so, a global point of view.” (12/1/2024)Appreciating America’s Distinctly British Heritage
Essay - “The United States’ British roots also have value because they provide a link to a history older than any homegrown alternative the United States possesses.” (11/29/2024)
Essay - “The United States’ British roots also have value because they provide a link to a history older than any homegrown alternative the United States possesses.” (11/29/2024)At Home in the War
Essay - “At the end of the summer, I got a bit too close to a Russian artillery round, a mistake that earned me a week in Kharkiv Regional Hospital. When the doctors cleared me, I walked home.” (11/27/2024)
Essay - “At the end of the summer, I got a bit too close to a Russian artillery round, a mistake that earned me a week in Kharkiv Regional Hospital. When the doctors cleared me, I walked home.” (11/27/2024)These People All Know Each Other Essay - “Charles Krauthammer used to pride himself on not going to cocktail parties, instead preferring to be at home with his wife quietly reading, writing, doing whatever. And he was probably better for it.” (11/16/2024)
Essay - “Charles Krauthammer used to pride himself on not going to cocktail parties, instead preferring to be at home with his wife quietly reading, writing, doing whatever. And he was probably better for it.” (11/16/2024)