As grand strategy evolves in America’s ongoing democratic political process, the essence of the Plato Doctrine will be preserved in any new formulation of a national security doctrine, because such is the nature of human political life… I have argued that there is no Platonic teaching of a “noble lie,” but rather of “some one [...]
The American neoclassical composers wrote music of sanity and logic and civility, music that is modern yet built on tradition. Their music is timeless and universal. Listening to it, one is transported to a bygone era in American culture, and indeed in the culture of the West… The tyranny of fashion weighs heavily on the [...]
There seems to be very little cultural space for humanistic studies. It is difficult to perceive how literature, philosophy, or theology could contribute to technological capitalism… I would like you to imagine the following situation: Sometime after graduation a college student is hired as an intern at his university’s newly founded Center for Leadership Studies [...]
It would be difficult to find a modern writer who explores the notions of place better than does Stephen King—how a holy place might be made “haunted,” radiating the evil of Hell rather than the grace of God… Place matters. We Imaginative Conservatives especially believe this. Ever since God exiled Eve and Adam from paradise, we have longed [...]
On my desert island, I would need to give myself Prospero-like powers, so that the music could be played and sung as mystically as the music of the spheres by an ensemble and choir of invisible nymphs... How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank! Here will we sit and let the sounds of music [...]
Given the hysteria of so many, it may seem surprising to note that what Donald Trump promised was a return to political sanity. If not a full-scale conservative program, Mr. Trump’s is a crucial program for the preservation and possible renewal of the American way of life… Now that Donald Trump is President-elect, there is [...]
If we can begin to understand the sense of federalism as an idea rather than a fixed set of immutable relations, and moreover as an idea that is designed to balance and reconcile the competing claims of competing goods, then our debates over the promise of federalism may take on a new vitality and plausibility… Today’s offering in [...]
Great nations need organizing principles, and the forthright articulation of a Trump Doctrine will define the future of U.S. foreign policy—if Plato’s advice about the people’s consent is followed… Looking ahead to what will be the most defining feature of the Trump administration, Pat Buchanan has noted that it is “Time for a Trump Doctrine.” [...]
Following the publication of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the American public suddenly discovered that the Russians had utterly divergent geopolitical interests from Americans. Animal Farm’s positive reception in Great Britain was far exceeded by its smashing success in the United States. The initial American reaction to Orwell’s fable came in the form of a favorable [...]
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it [...]
As long as words are left undefined, their meanings are vague and are left up to the listener’s or reader’s imagination. Many on the left have manipulated language in this way… What’s in a Definition? Defining one’s terms is important.[1] Yet, terms are often left undefined when speaking about the most important of subjects. In [...]
Richard Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde should prompt us to search for an antidote to the lovers’ death wish—to pursue a love that preserves rather than destroys, celebrates rather than abolishes individuality, and seeks life rather than death. “They who were two and divided now became one and united.” —Gottfried von Strassburg, Tristan and Isolde I come [...]
Looking out the window; A skiff of Michigan snow Lies in “innocence” there Like a story’s opening line. “Once there was a,” maybe Or “Long ago,” perhaps Not a blow to the head Or boot to one’s behind But a silent invitation To something still unspoken. Tempting as it is to say I’ve heard it [...]
John and Abigail Adams remained faithful to what they believed were the permanent things. How might twenty-first-century Americans use their correspondence to better address the public questions that touch upon the fundamentals of American constitutional liberty? When I look back to the Year 1761, and recollect the Argument concerning Writs of Assistance, in the Superiour Court, which [...]