What really made me love New York City was the discovery of some of those conscious forces G.K. Chesterton talked about. I discovered that not only were the famous five boroughs their own conscious forces, but within the boroughs were smaller forces—neighborhoods just as homey and parochial as any small town anywhere. Though I grew [...]
Blue Highways Conservatism embodies the restoration of individual rights, humane national loyalty, and confidence in the American spirit. It looks to the towns without malls, and the in-between places, to speak with an authentic voice in an attempt to foster community and the restoration of public virtue necessary to sustain democracy in America. The joy of reading [...]
When the pandemic separated us from our sacred spaces like the church or other communal places, Zoom promised connection. However, Zoom—as a medium of education and relationship—prevents us from truly connecting because of technology’s nature to divide, distract, and isolate. But when it came to the subject of letters, Theuth said, ‘But this study, King [...]
The culture of a real community like that of college isn’t simply a matter of texts and discussions of ideas, but of live emotion and thought, real presence to each other, a continuous awareness and exchange that locates each person in the larger community. Yesterday afternoon, during one of our regular meetings with the freshman [...]
Love, as the foundational principle of a loving society, is analogous to the arithmetic which forms the foundations of rocket science. Today, however, we live in a society that does not know the basic laws of love. Our society must once again learn to love, turning its back on pride, or it will destroy itself [...]
Owen Barfield called upon the men of the Western world to form themselves into a “commonwealth of the spirit” in which there is no copyright. To create a commonwealth of the soul, we need to know the limits and range of individualism as well as the limits and range of national character. Shortly after Great [...]
Though rooted in a certain time and a certain place, elements of John Winthrop’s teachings are timeless, and, whether we agree with him completely or not, we should recognize him as an important and imaginative conservative of yesteryear. Between 1629 and 1640, roughly 21,000 Puritans (and servants) immigrated from England (especially East Anglia) to New [...]
American democracy has proven to be a success in its representation of interests but a failure in cultivating citizenship; it has protected some civil liberties while allowing others to erode away. One lesson we can draw from its history of successes and failures is this: For a republic to succeed, institutions are not enough; civic [...]
Most of us know family members or friends who are depressed or saddened by the problems America faces today. Add to this scenario the usual holiday blues, and we have a mental health disaster in the making. We can help fight against it by spreading goodwill in whatever way we can. Not everyone has a [...]
The neighbourhood can give one a greater sense of a geographic and social whole. It can serve as a bridge between the home and the larger society. The limited control we have over who our neighbours are reflects the normal conditions of a large society. How well do you know your neighbours? How much does [...]
The struggle between good and evil that Frank Capra depicts in "Mr. Smith" is clearly understood by viewers as reflecting timeless truths about citizenship and living together in a free society. Even in the fractured public square we inhabit today, members of opposing political tribes can recognize our common humanity in the heroic and humble [...]
Alessandro Manzoni’s gift for seeing the humorous, pathetic, and anger-making aspects of a world in which justice is difficult to find ought to be more recognized. But it is no wonder that what attracts people are the faith, hope, and love that are both the hidden foundation and crown of political and economic life. Alessandro [...]
Critical theory bulldozes all the complexities of history, education, and communities into a world of good guys and bad guys, oppressors and oppressed. And in doing so, it makes it nearly impossible to deal with the actual issues of denied opportunities, prejudiced expectations, and instances of real racism that need to be addressed. Most Americans [...]
A nation is a complex entity. Justice, one of its animating principles and the end of government, gives a nation direction and serves as the basis for all laws in its society. Thus, when a society no longer possesses a common view of justice it inevitably splits into faction. It often happens within societies that [...]