Causing the Effect

“Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era,” says Mark McGwire, admitting at last what everyone already knew—that he drugged himself silly in the era of his greatest success in baseball.

Over at the Washington Post , Tracee Hamilton has the right response :

The steroid era isn’t something that happened to Mark McGwire. Mark McGwire was one of the driving forces behind the steroid era. Heck, he was—and perhaps still is—the poster boy of the steroid era.

The steroid era isn’t like the Great Depression. Grandma can complain about living through the Great Depression because she didn’t cause it. Richie Petitbon , on the other hand, can’t complain about living through the Richie Petitbon era. You see the difference

Dear Reader,

Can I be direct with you?

War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.

First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.

But we can’t do it without readers like you.

Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.


Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.

Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.

GIVE NOW

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.

Next
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

The Church in the Age of Therapy

Matthew Loftus

In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…

Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot

Anna Farrow

On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…

The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen

Mike Aquilina

Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…