James Poulos

Reihan has a nice two-post roundup of relatively sane commentary on the Gates imbroglio. We could have an interesting conversation about race, memory, and HONOR in America (as opposed to mere or simple dignity), roping ole Tocqueville back into it, or not; either way, it does seem right to conclude . . . . Continue Reading »

Daniel doesn’t like Dr. L’s linking up of anti-capitalism to isolationism. Unfortunately, he passionately exaggerates, to the point of disfigurement, Dr. L’s discussion of a certain anti-capitalism as a ” variant ” [my bold] of the “postpolitical fantasy” . . . . Continue Reading »

DC-area reader? Care about foreign policy? See me and several actual foreign-policy professionals discuss the fate of NATO and the future of the West , tomorrow in town. Wink from the audience and I’ll reference space wars, though probably not Star Wars. UPDATE: hear the whole thing. . . . . Continue Reading »

One drawback of Leviathan is that Hobbes, the great theorist of the individual, doesn’t theorize the kind of individual that emerges in real life in the wake of, say, Napoleon. (This is a kind of individual different yet from the one we associate with the Revolution itself.) Already within . . . . Continue Reading »

Patrick Appel has a long, introspective roundup of reader reax to some posts on atheism at the Dish. He closes with a personal take, acknowledging there is a connection between pantheism, agnosticism and atheism. [ . . . ] Most of the tension between the terms does revolve around “God” . . . . Continue Reading »

Over at The New Ledger, Ben Domenech takes on Conor over whether the rising generation has the right stuff when it comes to getting on with adulthood. Specifically, we’re given to ask, what’s with delaying marriage? Is it the product of capitalism gone wild? Is it simple . . . . Continue Reading »

First Things is taking a poll — a “journey through the wild world of college rankings.” Quantify — and qualify! — your experiences here . . . . . Continue Reading »

David Brooks’ recent column, called “In Search of Dignity,” is of pomocon interest. Just as Brooks tends to view genius as the practical result of expeditiously logging big hours of disciplined rehearsal, he sees the survival of dignity as dependent upon the persistence of a . . . . Continue Reading »

A brief remark as I hang out with my newly home-birthed son. (The goods of home birth definitely transcend all isms.) A recent portion of our pomocon/FPR critical saga has involved a fascinating exchange of allegations of stoicism and praise for certain kinds of stoicism. And it is true that . . . . Continue Reading »

Our PAL has made a comment down there that deserves some above-the-fold riffing. He writes that Locke knew nominalism would become more true as a description, but it could never become completely true. Part of the description of world where words are weapons and nothing but is of the incessant . . . . Continue Reading »