Have you heard the news? You and I are now living in a “post-truth” world. The Oxford Dictionaries proclaimed the official beginning of the new era in 2016 by selecting “post-truth” as the Word of the Year. According to our betters in academia, in the ruling elite, and in the punditocracy, the very concept of
When Thomas Paine appealed to “common sense” to make the case for American independence, it probably never crossed his mind that there would ever be a need to make the case for common sense itself, at least not in America. But common-sense thinking has fallen out of favor. Because it has been under attack for
The West took a turn for the worse about 100 years ago. Three versions of a new political vision—fascism, communism, and progressivism—came to power at about the same time. Each one put the government at the center of national life. The political history of the 20th century in the West is largely the
Did you notice that common sense was almost entirely missing from the two nights of the Democrats’ radicalism pageant last week? In terms of common sense and nonsense, the clear winner of the pageant was Julian Castro. The former Obama housing secretary’s bold advocacy of government-funded abortions for transgender women—that is, for biological
On January 15, 1987, Jesse Jackson and around 500 protesters marched down Palm Drive, Stanford University’s grand main entrance, chanting "Hey hey, ho ho, Western Civ has got to go." They were protesting Stanford University’s introductory humanities program known as “Western Culture.” For Jackson and the protesters, the problem was its lack of
A new film, “Hotel Mumbai,” tells the story of the 2008 terrorist attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai. It is, I assure you, a film you want to see. It is more exciting than that action film playing next door in your town, better made than the films promoted by the Academy Awards, and
Have you heard this one? A federal judge has ruled that the all-male military draft is unconstitutional. How did you feel about this bit of news when you first learned of it? Did you think the ruling was ridiculous? An outrage? Did you feel hopeless about what is happening to our country? All
He [Harold Ross] was reminded of a pleasant afternoon that the two of them [Ross and Mrs. Roosevelt] had spent a few years earlier, talking for hours as they rode along in Mrs. Roosevelt’s sedan. At one point the former First Lady suddenly allowed as how “old people ought to be bumped off
I have a friend who tells me that attempts to understand Donald Trump in the ordinary ways we understand politicians, even truly remarkable politicians, are doomed to failure. My friend is pointing to the astonishing revelations Trump has precipitated. One such effect is that people in public life are ripping off their masks—and
The New Year’s Eve celebration at Times Square will again this year feature John Lennon’s song “Imagine." We thought this article, first published in 2017, would be worth revisiting today. Republishing it also affords us an opportunity to wish you a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year. Thank you for all of your support in
