About Chuck Chalberg

John C. “Chuck” Chalberg writes from Minnesota and brings history to life in the persons of G.K. Chesterton, George Orwell, H.L. Mencken, Branch Rickey, and Teddy Roosevelt at History on Stage. Dr. Chalberg also teaches American history, as well as an occasional course on G.K. Chesterton, online for Homeschool Connections. He taught American History at Normandale Community College.

Repeal the Seventeenth Amendment?

By |2021-03-23T11:19:31-05:00March 28th, 2021|Categories: American Republic, Constitution, Politics|

The lava-like drift toward not just democracy but mass democracy might one day culminate in government by plebiscite. If that’s where American government is headed, we have all the more reason to turn in the opposite direction. And a good first step in that direction would be to repeal the 17th Amendment. Constitutional amendments are [...]

“The Madness of Crowds”: How Identity Politics Has Replaced Religion

By |2021-03-09T14:26:15-06:00March 11th, 2021|Categories: Books, Ideology, Liberalism, Politics, Sexuality|

Into the breach—or onto the deserted ground—has marched a new metaphysics in the form of a new religion. In “The Madness of Crowds,” Douglas Murray explains this “religion” of identity politics. The Madness of Crowds: Gender, Race and Identity, by Douglas Murray (304 pages, Bloomsbury Continuum, 2021) A better title for this book might have [...]

The End of “The End of History”?

By |2021-02-01T11:35:04-06:00February 2nd, 2021|Categories: Foreign Affairs, History|

Not only was Francis Fukuyama wrong about China, but it’s beginning to appear that he was wrong about us as well. The obvious fact that China is not becoming more Madisonian is only half of the story. The other half is that the United States is threatening to become less Madisonian and much more like [...]

Catholicism and the Presidency

By |2021-01-29T18:19:34-06:00January 27th, 2021|Categories: Catholicism, Politics, Presidency|

Today’s Democratic party is not the Democratic party of Al Smith or John Kennedy, but a secular institution with policy and program positions that fly in the face of Catholic teaching. And Joe Biden, also a Catholic Democrat, has simply drifted along with his party on the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage. “What the [...]

The Crisis of Liberalism

By |2021-01-17T01:04:36-06:00January 16th, 2021|Categories: Books, Conservatism, Liberalism|

Today’s Democratic party is not the party of Joe Biden’s youth or middle age. As author Fred Siegel correctly observes, it is a top-bottom coalition of the well-credentialed (but not well-educated) upper-middle class and beyond, plus those who work for, depend upon, or otherwise presume to shelter under the benevolent arm of government. The Crisis [...]

Garrison Keillor’s “That Time of Year”

By |2021-01-07T15:56:01-06:00January 9th, 2021|Categories: Books, Culture|

In "That Time of Year," Garrison Keillor engagingly tells his tale as a shy, awkward writer who found fame and fortune almost by accident as a radio personality. That fame and fortune might have ruined him, but it didn’t. Humor, it seems, has helped him more than once—and more than a little. That Time of [...]

Where Are We Going?

By |2020-12-30T14:54:05-06:00December 31st, 2020|Categories: American Republic, Europe, Politics, Progressivism|

The progressive left seems to want us to become something akin to social democratic Europe with all its cultural trimmings, while the right wants us to remain more like the America of old. To satisfy both parties, is the answer for the United States of America to become like the Europe of old? Just where [...]

Is the Electoral College Fair?

By |2020-10-25T15:26:17-05:00October 25th, 2020|Categories: American Republic, Electoral College, Politics, Presidency|

The electoral college has at least indirectly done its work by helping to assure that a successful presidential candidate would have broad support throughout the country, as opposed to simply being the overwhelming choice of only a section/slice of the country. The 2016 election of Donald Trump put many things in motion. The 2020 election [...]

The Age of the Mask

By |2020-10-16T11:38:24-05:00October 18th, 2020|Categories: Coronavirus, Culture, Humor, Modernity|

During this “age of the mask,” are we on the verge of becoming a people who ritualistically carry masks with us wherever we go? Will it perhaps become generally understood that the wise person always keeps two masks with him at all times? Now that we have seemingly settled into the “age of the mask,” [...]

Defund the Schools Instead of the Police?

By |2020-07-20T16:57:30-05:00July 20th, 2020|Categories: Civilization, Education, Liberalism, Modernity, Politics, Taxes|

If it’s time to “defund” the police department of Minneapolis, maybe it’s also time to “defund” the K-12 sector of what passes for public education in Minnesota. The idea is to fund parents instead. The radical idea of school choice will directly empower parents, which is something that defunding the police will not do. In [...]

Is America Still Exceptional After the Coronavirus Crisis?

By |2020-05-31T16:11:11-05:00May 31st, 2020|Categories: American Republic, Barack Obama, Coronavirus, Politics|

A recent commentary suggests that American exceptionalism has been shattered by the COVID-19 crisis. If we are indeed left “shattered” and “battered” by a mere virus and our response to it, the rest of the world may one day wish that an exceptional America was still on hand to deal with forces seeking to do [...]

Christopher Caldwell’s “The Age of Entitlement”

By |2020-04-01T12:00:04-05:00April 1st, 2020|Categories: American Republic, Books, History, Modernity, Politics, Presidency|

Are we a less free people, maybe even a far less free people, than we were in 1963? Partial punch-puller that he is content to be, Christopher Caldwell is not about to offer either a tentative or final answer to such questions. But the evidence that he presents strongly suggests that we are certainly a [...]

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