Peter Lawler

1. I’ve been getting a good number of strange emails complaining about my neocon, warmongering pseudo-realism, as well as about my hyper-technological love of cosmic conquest— of THE FINAL FRONTIER, as some say. 2. So here are some personal observations: I didn’t say and . . . . Continue Reading »

According to Tom Wolfe , our space program needs a philosophic justification to get the “godlike” adventure that gave us all that right stuff going again. Here are a few random thoughts in that direction. I’m not saying I agree with them or that I’m volunteering to be a . . . . Continue Reading »

Here’s a very thoughtful brief essay that features both Tom Wolfe and ME. It’s fairly pessimistic—but still postmodern conservative—because its nostalgia is not for porches and goats but for pilots and astronauts—the members of the Greatest Generation. Those men . . . . Continue Reading »

Here’s one example among many of the wise moderation of the new encyclical : In his Apostolic Letter Octogesima Adveniens of 1971, Paul VI reflected on the meaning of politics, and the danger constituted by utopian and ideological visions that place its ethical and human dimensions in . . . . Continue Reading »

What a fabulous idea! Give this man some credit, he sees the postmodern conservative point of my post was to say that there’s something—but not everything—good about the South. And surely he’s right to add that I’m the true heir of the authors of I’LL TAKE MY . . . . Continue Reading »

Here’s an excerpt from an article on the Sixties of mine in THE INTERCOLLEGIATE REVIEW . It supports the Tocquevillian thought that things are mainly getting better and worse, as well as the thought that the aggressive nationalizing of the civil rights movement was in response to a state and . . . . Continue Reading »

1. A couple of readers suggested that I drop the pointy headed Strauss stuff and comment on the trendy localism posts of the Porchers, the (First) Thingers, and all that. My real experience is that most of them were kind of boring—no offense. 2. It goes without saying that I’m against . . . . Continue Reading »

This question, I learned from our Porcher friends, is the stock “traditionalist” or “paleo” shot against Leo Strauss. It’s hard to know what it means, exactly, or why they think it’s at least a symptom of evildoing. But indulge me in some relatively pro-Strauss . . . . Continue Reading »

So now that we’re “cooking with gas,” as the great man says, let me say something to the Porchers-with whom we’ve just become friends—about Strauss and “us,” keeping in mind that there are big details here that Ralph and the Ralphians wouldn’t fully . . . . Continue Reading »

Here are some comments that you can fully understand only by going to the Front Porch Republic site under “Part Deux.” They’re meant in complete love and respect: This is way too much to read. So only five comments: 1. Where can I get some of that french fried latte? 2. Even . . . . Continue Reading »