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The Sum of Good Government

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Well stated by Thomas Jefferson in his first Inaugural Address in 1801: A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is […]

Should We Change Calendars?

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The Wall Street Journal recently had an enjoyable article on different alternatives to the Gregorian calendar that have been put forth to try and solve some of the idiosyncrasies of our current system. (I personally find some of the idiosyncrasies of our calendar to be a good thing — it provides variety.)

On Architecture and Physics

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This is a good word, quoted in If Aristotle Ran General Motors: Architecture is about the good, the true, and the beautiful in our edifices and landscapes, and physics is about the good, the true, and the beautiful in nature.

The Power of Moral Clarity

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Moral clarity — and the willingness to speak it — brought the Berlin Wall down back in 1989. That’s the point made by two fantastic pieces in the Wall Street Journal from last month on Nov 9 (the day the Berlin Wall fell). I highly recommend them. I’m mentioning them now because they are relevant […]

Myths and Money: Inoculating Against the Socialist Flu

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Marvin Olasky has some good words about Jay Richards’ book Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem: Many of us have had flu shots this fall, but what about an inoculation against the hate-America economics that many colleges teach? Money, Greed and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and […]

This is Not Science

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What is contained in the 3,000 emails and documents that were released last week after the Climate Research Unit’s emails were hacked? The Wall Street Journal gives a brief overview, and you can find even more details here. Here’s one part of the overview from the WSJ: Yet even a partial review of the emails […]

Why Third-World Capitalism is Not Flourishing

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Here’s a quick statement of the reason, from my notes on the subject: The mystery of capital is this: Assets (property, money, the means of production) are not automatically capital. Capital is like electricity. Until it is there, the assets are dead. Property rights are what close the circuit and bring dead assets to life. […]

What is a Virtue?

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From Ethics: Approaching Moral Decisions (Contours of Christian Philosophy) by Arthur Holmes: [There are] motives, intentions, and underlying dispositions. What these have in common, first, is that they are all inner states rather than overt behaviors and, second, that they are affective rather than purely cognitive states. A virtue is a right inner disposition, and […]

Freakonomics on Buying a Home

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I made note of these two interesting points when I read the original Freakonomics a few years ago, to remember whenever buying and selling a home. They are from pages 7-9 and 71-76. 1. On Incentives Incentives not aligned between seller and real estate agent—if the agent sells your house for $10,000 less, they lose […]