Barbarism, to paraphrase Christopher Dawson, is not a far-distant stage in the evolution of human society, but a perpetual possibility simmering under the surface of civilization. In no country on earth has barbarism erupted with more devastating force than in Somalia, a land of clashing creeds and ethnicities, murderous warlords, and, of course, those quintessential barbarians— pirates .
Partisanship is now (appropriately) at fever pitch, but some things should be beyond left and right. Among them is awed gratitude at the resilience of the American order. This is a nation where political reprisals take the form of unkind advertisements, and where the pirates illegally download Rocky III .
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
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First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
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