Should work make us happy? Or, more to the point, should it be the chief element in defining our sense of self and personal worth as it so often is in the contemporary world? Time to get more realistic about what work can deliver in terms of satisfaction, says philosopher Alain de Botton. He contrasts…

I should also note as an addendum to the post below, that Borders makes a move in his article that I’ve seen a lot of libertarians make, irrespective of their views on foreign policy. Oftentimes it is held (or implied) that since rights must be protected by concrete social and political institutions, rights are nothing…

Tech Central Station has an article this morning by a certain Max Borders on whether it is possible to be a libertarian on domestic issues and a “neo-conservative” (his term) on foreign policy. In short: can a libertarian be a hawk? Borders answers in the affirmative: The libertarian hawk takes her cues from Hobbes, not…

Jim Henley offers a justification (of sorts!) for minimal government in response to anarchist critiques: As a minarchist/constitutionalist, I’ll cop to inconsistency of principle. But while I agree with the anarcho-capitalists that All governments are gangs, I don’t think governments are the only gangs. It’s an observed fact that, wherever and whenever you go, armed…

(For earlier installments see here, here, and here.) In addition to being a revelation of God’s love and a sacrifice that effects reconciliation between humanity and God, Christians have always seen the Atonement as the act whereby God redeems us from the powers of sin and evil. In ancient times, redemption meant literally to purchase…

Yes, localized direct democracy is majoritarian, but the citizen unhappy with a law may appeal to her neighbors, who are often kin or lifelong friends. At the national level, however, she is just a single vote in a mass of anonymous millions—not even a brick in the wall. A Vermonter who dislikes his town’s junk-car…

How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man. — Johnny Cash

From the Washington Post: If Gore’s America (and presumably John Kerry’s) is reproducing at a slower pace than Bush’s America, what does this imply for the future? Well, as the comedian Dick Cavett remarked, “If your parents never had children, chances are you won’t either.” When secular-minded Americans decide to have few if any children,…

Lynne Stewart is the attorney for Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman (convicted of instigating the 1993 World Trade Center bombing) who has been indicted for illegally passing information from her client to outside terrorist groups. I have no idea if this woman broke the law, but if this interview with a far-left journal is any indication,…

I’ve written before about the tensions between libertarians and conservatives. As a recovering libertarian these ideological differences still interest me a great deal. It seems to me that another way of shedding light on this tension might be by considering our evolving understanding of community. Conservatives are, in essence, defenders of community. Preserving the tribe…