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Let’s Rebalance

On election night, Tuesday, November 6, returns came in. There were wins and losses. My blood pressure rose and fell, exulting in victories and anguished in defeats. But morning came, and the evening’s ardor had drained away during the night’s sleep. More dispassionate, I mulled over a question . . . . Continue Reading »

Conservative Democracy

The present moment is one of growing discomfort, both in America and in Europe, with the regnant liberal political theory often described as liberal democracy. It is frequently said that the only genuine alternatives to liberal democracy are Marxism and Fascism, but I don’t believe this is . . . . Continue Reading »

Letters

Geoffrey Hill Like Garrick Davis (“Geoffrey Hill, Prodigal,” August/September), I too had the fortune of having Geoffrey Hill as an instructor. In 2004, I was a student in the Boston University writing seminars, and a few of us from the writing program took Hill’s Gerard Manley Hopkins seminar . . . . Continue Reading »

Common Good Conservatism

Countless commentators have observed that the public square is polarized. Political speech has become barbed. The once sober mainstream media are often shrill. It’s a sure sign of the times that people on both left and right feel under assault. Religious Americans worry that, if given a chance, . . . . Continue Reading »

Conservatism’s Next Generation

There’s a lot of hand-wringing in Washington over the dramas of the Trump administration, not to mention the tug-of-war over congressional seats and jobs in the bureaucracy. But when this period has passed and tomorrow’s conservatives look back on it, it may seem obvious to them that these were . . . . Continue Reading »

Nuanced Patriotism

I love my country – I fear my government. I first saw that mantra as a bumper sticker in the Clinton nineties. It then began to sprout as billboards and rock-paintings in the Obama years, and it has now become the chorus to almost every song of complaint composed by American conservatives. It is . . . . Continue Reading »

Let’s Lead, Not Be Led

Paul Ryan will not seek another term in Congress. No doubt the personal reasons he gave for bowing out are important. But it’s likely he’s also frustrated that the market-oriented and freedom-focused conservatism he took for granted has lost traction. He’s not alone. The ideas and priorities . . . . Continue Reading »

Battle for Europe

Byliśmy głupi by marcin król czerwone i czarne, 256 pages, zł 39.90 Pravým okem: Antologie současného polského politického myšlení edited by maciej ruczaj and maciej szymanowski centrum pro studium demokracie a kultury, 203 pages, kč 249 Resistance to Communism in Eastern Europe was . . . . Continue Reading »

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