George Will on conservatism, capitalism, and our elites’ ‘unblemished record of failure’ – The Hub

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George Will has been a leading conservative commentator and intellectual for more than 50 years.

It’s probably true that the strongest negative force in my nature is my dislike of elitism. Whether it be in the trades (union/’guild’ monopoly), the church (staff/council over-reach) or politics (majority rule). George Will’s seasoned perspective on this is worthwhile reading.

Why I Am Not a Liberal | ​Ryszard Legutko

I never called myself a liberal. For a long time, however, I ­considered liberalism a sound theory . . . .

This thorough analysis of liberalism’s faults comes from First Things, a leading intellectual journal. I offer it as a challenge to those who share my charitable nature but differ from me in their means to that end.

Not Just Bikes

Stories of great urban planning and urban experiences from Amsterdam and the Netherlands. It’s not just bikes.

The Dutch touch to solving the world’s problems is amply illustrated in this YouTube channel. Coming, as it does, from a fellow Dutch Canadian (from London and Toronto) now living in the Netherlands, it appeals to me on many levels.

Seeing Overlapping Realms When Awake

Investigating a global phenomenon whereby red grid marks appear on the human body during sleep.

This link is the oddball on this page, chosen not for what it says as for its use of one of my photos. I do not mind the use or the lack of attribution.

Stop Saying “Do What You Love, Love What You Do.” It Devalues Actual Work.

“Do what you love. Love what you do.”

As someone who has loved the work that I’ve done, but not always been able to do what I love, this article speaks volumes to me, and is a necessary antidote to current trends.

Why is English so weirdly different from other languages? | Aeon Essays

No, English isn’t uniquely vibrant or mighty or adaptable. But it really is weirder than pretty much every other language

Words are very important to me. And, even though it’s not my native tongue, it is English that I seek to master. This digging into its roots illustrates that, even though English is now thought of as domineering, it is a coming together of natives, migrants, invaders and people of all classes.

Against Nature Writing

Seeking to express communion with the more-than-human world, Charles Foster begins to wonder if language can do anything other than constrain and tame the tangled wild.

This long, meandering essay about the nature of writing strikes at the heart of our place in this world as co-creators calling things into being.

On Radical Acceptance (& Not Fixing Your Kid)

There’s a small town in Belgium named Geel (pronounced hale with a throaty, Germanic H). By 1930, a quarter of its residents were mentally ill. If you know about Geel, you know this was not because…

Over the past thirty-five years, our daughter’s Down Syndrome has become a fixture in our lives. It just is, and this article illustrates that reality very well. It’s my belief that our ‘radical acceptance’ is a practice ground for acceptance (I hate to say ‘tolerance’) on a much wider scale.

Who’s Oppressing Whom? Sin, Oppression, and Forgiveness

David T. Koyzis In the book of Exodus we read that God’s people were slaves in Egypt for centuries before Moses led them…

David Koyzis is one of my most reliable sources, both for what he writes and for the links that he posts (several of which are on this page). Though I hesitate to wade into the the issue of racism, I do have to affirm Koyzis’ recognition of the brokenness that cuts through all intersections.

Thomas Sowell: Poisoning present by distorting slavery’s past

Many years ago, I was surprised to receive a letter from an old friend, saying she had been told I refused to see campus visitors from Africa.

I do not know why more people do not pay attention to Thomas Sowell. This short article is perfectly reasonable in spite of its deviation from popular narratives.

Why Do Some Succeed?

In Canada and widely in the West, our greatest values today are “social justice” and “diversity.” Social justice has nothing to do with individuals, but is about “collective rights”[1] of categorie…

This statistics-heavy analysis of representation in professions, academia and sports paints a different picture of social justice and diversity than is currently in vogue.

Andrew Sullivan: America’s New Religions

Political cults are increasingly filling the empty space in our lives left by the decline of organized faiths.

Life is religion, and the headlined piece on this page is a tour-de-force analysis of how this has been working out, particularly in late-Trumpian USA.

Moral Zealotry and the Seductive Nature of Evil

A tempting fallacy about morality is to think that wickedness must arise from transparently abhorrent motives, and goodness from nice ones. Few explicitly endorse this crude dualism, but many breezily equate hatred with evil, love with goodness, or both. This way of thinking makes it difficult for u…

Good and evil presents us with a clear choice – except when it doesn’t.