Safety as Ethics?
by James PoulosMaybe. On the other (wrung) hand, the concept of safety itself depends on, and derives from, one’s ethics. Oops. Please chime in, “usual cabal of bioconservatives.” . . . . Continue Reading »
Sex and Control
by Will WilsonMatt Zeitlin should be less surprised by the final sentence of his post (link not suitable for children): I’m not familiar enough with the safe-sex corpus to really comment on it authoritatively, but in my own experience (health classes and so forth), the near-obsessive focus on the . . . . Continue Reading »
Book Recommendations for Obama
by Will WilsonOver at the main blog, Joe Carter asks : In all seriousness, though, what books would you recommend the President read during his vacation? Assuming you had to stick to the same 3:1:1 ratio (3 novels, 1 biography, 1 policy-oriented nonfiction) what books would you slip into his travel bag? . . . . Continue Reading »
Dignity Panel
by James PoulosOn Morning Joe a few minutes ago, Pat Buchanan described the fear behind the death panel debate as the fear that old people without anyone around who loves them will be steered in their final years toward elective euthanasia. Surely the steering power of a government authorized to command and . . . . Continue Reading »
Rise of the Techno-Rubes
by James PoulosEvery big idea that works is marked by simplicity, by clarity. You can understand it when you hear it, and you can explain it to people. Social Security: Retired workers receive a public pension to help them through old age. Medicare: People over 65 can receive taxpayer-funded health care. Welfare: . . . . Continue Reading »
Aesthetic Politics
by James PoulosThe New York Times reports: guys have gone wild with their hair! Now it’s well nigh impossible to tell what a man (okay, lad) does or who he is just by assessing his do. It’s like Renaissance Italy — freaks prowling proudly everywhere, completely outside the envelope of fashion . . . . Continue Reading »
Climate Change and Technocracy
by Will WilsonCards on the table, since those who dare even to broach this subject are inevitably subjected to name-calling. The ” collapsing consensus ” notwithstanding, I’m among those who believe that the earth is getting warmer, that human beings probably have something to do with it, and . . . . Continue Reading »
Conceptual Polarization in Blogging and Democracy
by James PoulosA note apropos of the important comments down here by Professors Deneen and McAllister . It’s true, as Prof. McAllister says, that “The tendency of theorists to declare is then made stronger in a blog format, as is the tendency to divide people into camps” — true too of the . . . . Continue Reading »
Why do they want marriage?
by Will WilsonOne used to see a great deal more of this kind of rhetoric : Instead of applying its impressive muscle to creating an alternative to this hoary, unsecular, historically sexist, and needlessly restrictive institution, the movement instead opted to perpetuate it. If the status quo could be expanded . . . . Continue Reading »
This Day In Irony
by James PoulosI’ve alluded elsewhere to the fascinating way in which Obama parlayed his mixed African American (as opposed to African-American) heritage so as to occupy a space in American cultural and political life just ever-so-different from that occupied by black Americans generally and other black . . . . Continue Reading »
America's most
influential
journal of
religion and
public life
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
influential
journal of
religion and
public life
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
Filter Tag Articles
Subscribe Today!
