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Back Row America

I first walked into the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx because I had been told not to. I had been told it was too dangerous and too poor, and that I was too white. I had been told that “nobody goes there for anything but drugs and prostitutes.” The people telling me this were my . . . . Continue Reading »

Immigration Idealism

For much of my life, I believed in open borders. Aside from violent criminals, I could think of no person who had entered this country illegally or overstayed a visa who deserved to be sent away. But in fact, I had thought little about the matter. I simply meant well, and I knew that all . . . . Continue Reading »

Confession in America

Confession:  Catholics, Repentance, and Forgiveness in America by patrick w. carey oxford, 392 pages, $34.95 In the 2013 Joseph Gordon-­Levitt romantic comedy Don Jon, the porn-obsessed title character hits the confessional, reels off his ­usual list of sins against chastity, and then . . . . Continue Reading »

U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

The Virtue of Nationalism by yoram hazony basic books, 304 pages, $18.99 In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, a surge of patriotism ran through me. I was, however, a junior professor teaching at Prince­ton University. National pride struck most of my colleagues as a crude emotion. With a healthy . . . . Continue Reading »

Letters

ECONOMISM Richard Spady’s article “Economics as Ideology” (April) has some excellent insights. Spady argues that economics functions as an ideology when it imposes its rigid anthropology—dominated by a simplistic, utility-maximizing mythology of the individual—on the material it . . . . Continue Reading »

Little Books of the Prairie

Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by caroline fraser metropolitan, 640 pages, $35 The Little House Books by laura ingalls wilder edited by caroline fraser library of america,  1,490 pages, $75 In 1937, during one of the few public appearances of her career, a . . . . Continue Reading »

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