We set aside this day every year to honor and remember the people who have died in war. From time to time someone points out that the best way to honor the fallen is to work to ensure there is no war. But war goes on, and perhaps it always will as long as weContinue reading “To honor the fallen”
Category Archives: tyranny
The truth about War
Roger Mifflin, proprietor of the “Parnassus at Home” bookstore, chats with his new employee Titania about the lessons learned during the recently ended Great War, in this passage from The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morley (1919). “Sometimes I thought Truth had vanished from the earth,” he cried bitterly. “Like everything else, it was rationed byContinue reading “The truth about War”
Would you rather be safe or free?
From the archives: I wrote this in 1999, not long after the infamous shootings at Columbine High School. I really can’t add anything 24 years later. Would you rather be safe or free? Those are the choices, you know. There are ways you can try to protect yourself and your children from the possibility thatContinue reading “Would you rather be safe or free?”
The architects of schism
Watching a news story about the kerfuffle at the U.S. border, someone was quoted as saying, “This isn’t a Democrat issue or a Republican issue; this is an American issue.” I thought about all the times I’ve heard that sentiment raised, and all the times I heard Democrats and Republicans rail about how the otherContinue reading “The architects of schism”
Two mugs in a bar
Two mugs in a bar — kind of an old bar, somewhat clean, but you know how hard it is to get an old bar squeaky clean. Maybe they’re old friends, or maybe they just happen to be sitting within earshot of each other at this particular moment. The news is on TV, or maybeContinue reading “Two mugs in a bar”
What the headline means
The headline says “The governor wants more funds” for some important purpose. The implication, as always, is that spending more money will solve the problem. At the very least, more money will put food on the table for the people who are working on the important purpose. As for the source of the money, why,Continue reading “What the headline means”
Inevitabilities
What do you do on the day taxes are due? Do you rail against an inevitable evil that you feel powerless to stop? Or do you shrug and say this is the price we pay for peace and freedom? Peace? When the money wrested from our labors or printed out of thin air goes toContinue reading “Inevitabilities”