Thursday, May 28, 2015

Crumbs Upon the Water




Observations: Physical, Political, and Otherwise


A squadron of sparrows launching from the nearby trees into synchronized descent about the birdbath, a complex fluttering dance, an aerial ballet of faith and physics...

It's not that so many of the very rich make so much money that offends one's moral sensibility, it's that so many of them spend so much of it on themselves.

I have lived my life with my head high in the clouds, yet I've kept my feet firmly planted on the ground, a posture which, while affording an occasional fleeting glimpse of a distant epiphany, results in tremendous pains in the back and neck.

Economic observation: It's not entirely true that a rising tide lifts all boats. In fact, it swamps a multitude of smaller craft.

Bar room vignette: looking to spark a conversation he asked her what her sign was, and she responded, "No Trespassing."

Bar room vignette (politically incorrect version): looking to spark a conversation he asked her what her sign was, and she responded, "For Rent."

...an ingenious ignorance, born of a principled refusal...

I view my life rather as a lengthy exposition of the self-evident, often tedious, occasionally profound.

What I call my conservatism is, in reality, just my earlier liberalism scarred by experience.

Society does not exist for the creation of profit; profit exists for the creation of society.

...the Saint Columbianus Home for Retired and Recovering Heretics....

Sartre posited that "existence precedes essence." I would say rather that "existence is the education of essence."  (...and on the basis of that principle continue the experiment of my life?...)

It is not necessary to submit capitalism to the norms of distributive justice; properly ordered capitalism is the norm of distributive justice.

A genuinely free society must chose between the only two possible solutions to the vexing problem of "income inequality," taxation or  philanthropy.


Education in a free society must first of all be civic education, early, profound, and enduring.