Random stuff I find interesting and you may not.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s three-volume opus, The Gulag Archipelago, which some have called the most important masterpiece of the twentieth century, is subtitled: “An Experiment in Literary Investigation.” Consider how odd that is. No Westerner would call such a work “literary,” lest someone discount its documentary value. Literature is one thing, truth another, isn’t that correct? But … Read more
China is slowly and surely going down the path of Japan. It is aging rapidly as bad bank debts pile up. ‘Japanification’ Stalks the US, Europe, and China . . . Japanification of China Well Underway A Fascinating Conversation With Renowned Short Seller Jim Chanos on Hedgeye TV got me thinking more about China. I … Read more
One of the takeaways from the Amazonian Synod was the materialization of a new religious identity in the world. When I say this is a “new religious identity” I do not mean to suggest that it is a new invention. It is, in fact, a religion that is as old and wide and powerful as … Read more
One Child Nation – Official Trailer | Amazon Studios Anyone drawn to the now-resurgent notion that collectivism is kind of cool would benefit from a viewing of One Child Nation, a documentary that demonstrates what can happen when state bureaucrats are allowed to fundamentally re-order their country’s most intimate cultural customs. The film’s … Read more
Soviet’s Crimes Against Humanity In 1921, the Lenin-led Soviet Union faced one of the worst famines in history. A new book details its horrors and the American effort to combat cannibalism. The stories began to appear in the Soviet press in the autumn of 1921, each one more gruesome than the last. There … Read more
A danger to which man is ever susceptible is “to forget first principles and instead to be guided by the surging passions of politics, one of the worst forms of enthusiasm that can afflict mankind.” Anthony Esolen, “The Elder Statesman” Guard against anger. But if it cannot be averted, let it be kept within bounds. … Read more
Presidential aspirant Beto O’Rourke, thrashing about in an attempt to be noticed, says tax exemptions should be denied to churches and other institutions that oppose same-sex marriage. O’Rourke’s suggestion, and Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren’s plan to tax the “excessive” exercise of a First Amendment right, and the NBA’s painful lesson about the perils of moral … Read more
Mao Tortures His Way to Power The embattled Chinese Communists break through Nationalist enemy lines and begin an epic flight from their encircled headquarters in southwest China. Known as Ch’ang Cheng—the “Long March”—the retreat lasted 368 days and covered 6,000 miles, more than twice the distance from New York to San Francisco. Civil … Read more