Our Grievance Culture

It is a malady confined to man, and not seen in any other creature, to hate and despise himself. — Michel de Montaigne My household “reading room,” a locale that lends itself to the consumption of short bits of written material, has amongst its...

Losing Friends and Family

I have a social media rule: I don’t initiate political posts or arguments on my main Facebook page. I break this rule only on extremely rare occasions, and when I do so, it’s almost always something funny, sarcastic, and nonpartisan (typically...

You Must Lose

A question recently arose in a political forum I frequent, as to whether making birth control pills over-the-counter (and thus drastically reducing the cost of acquiring them) would appease the reproductive-rights scolds. This is a proposal that has been floating...

A Conflict of Values

Locavore. Farm-to-Table. Artisanal. Organic. Non-GMO. So go the labels for a modern trend among progressive, socially conscious diners, who see our industrialized, mass-production, agriculture industry as something to be eschewed, derided, and protested. This...