Modern institutions talk about themselves. When a corporation refashions itself—undergoes a complete makeover not merely to look different, but to play an entirely different role—this revolution is fundamentally a matter of talk. Such a transformation took place in the . . . . Continue Reading »
The Fascist Revolution: Toward a General Theory of Fascismby george l. mossehoward fertig. 230 pp. $35. Everything for the state, nothing outside the state, nothing above the state.” So Benito Mussolini trumpeted the ideal of fascism, the wild-eyed political movement that he rode to power in Italy . . . . Continue Reading »
Morality and Contemporary Warfare by james turner johnson yale university press, 259 pages, $25 The average person has every reason to approach somewhat skeptically books with titles like Morality and Contemporary Warfare . And one should not be supposed “anti-intellectual” if that skepticism . . . . Continue Reading »
There’s an old and famous story about a community of people who live in a cave. Fires burn behind them, throwing shadows of various shapes onto the cave wall; and never having seen real objects in the sunlight, the cave people think these shadows are the only and most complete reality. One day, . . . . Continue Reading »
There was some puzzlement among John Stuart Mill’s contemporaries that he should publish his tract On Liberty, with its deep concern for the tyranny of public opinion, when the press in England was the freest in the world and the public life of the country was vibrant with controversy in politics . . . . Continue Reading »
It would no doubt be foolish to suggest that there is a single, essential contribution which Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936) can make to us from across the span of a century and a quarter since his birth. In the first place, how could one simplify a man of such complex talents? And in the . . . . Continue Reading »
At Minot Air Force base in Minot, North Dakota, a wife kisses her husband goodbye, knowing that he will be spending the night alone in close quarters with a fit, talented, professional woman officer. He will dress next to her, sleep where she slept, smell how she smells. Although their job can . . . . Continue Reading »
When I heard that the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) planned to send 100,000 volunteers to Chicago next summer to evangelize the city, my first reaction was, Good luck. (Perhaps I have been living in New York too long.) Evangelism, of course, is essential to Christianity. The Great Commission . . . . Continue Reading »
The Age of the Bachelor: Creating an American Subcultureby howard p. chudacoffprinceton university press, 341 pages, $29.95 Howard Chudacoff, a professor of history at Brown University, has written what amounts to a propagandist tract in the form of a purported sociological history of the . . . . Continue Reading »
“Witches Heal.” “The Goddess is Alive and Magic is Afoot.” A picture of Earth with the enjoinder, “Love Your Mother.” These are popular bumper stickers in my “alternative” town, where old hippies and young New Agers mingle on Main Street more or less amiably with us non-hip, . . . . Continue Reading »
Subscribe
Latest Issue
Support First Things
