Sophocles in Benghazi

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

What separated the great Athenian tragedian Sophocles from dozens of his contemporaries — now mere names attached to fragments and quotations — were his unmatched characters, an Ajax, Antigone, or Oedipus whose proverbially fatal flaws ultimately led to their own self-destruction. Continue reading “Sophocles in Benghazi”

One Nation, Under God?

by Bruce Thornton

Defining Ideas

The role of religion in American social and political life is an ever-present element in our civic conversation. The recent controversy over the contraception mandate ignited a smoldering conflict over just this issue. Continue reading “One Nation, Under God?”

The New Reactionaries

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

Starting in the 1930s and continuing after the war, the Democrats offered a liberal critique of, or perhaps enhancement to, the Republican vision of rugged individualism. A modern American state now had the capital and the moral ambition to smooth the rougher edges of capitalism by insisting on unemployment and disability insurance, a 40-hour week, overtime pay, and what we now associate with the social safety net. Such entitlements, along with a rapidly growing economy, redefined poverty — so much so that whereas in 1930 malnourishment was endemic among the poor, by 2000 obesity was far more injurious to the nation’s collective health. Continue reading “The New Reactionaries”

Are We Doomed?

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

Sometimes societies find themselves in pernicious cycles in which the perceived medicine seems worse than the known disease. The Roman satirist Juvenal lamented the ill effects of free food and free entertainment for the masses (“bread and circuses”) in part because he knew there was no remedy for the pathology in sight — and thus only a slow decline toward fiscal insolvency or riots were on the horizon. Continue reading “Are We Doomed?”

When Land Is History

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

This winter I watched a new owner of the farm parcel next to mine bring in enormous Caterpillar equipment and land-levelers. He ripped out every living tree and bush. He changed the very contours of the land, flattening even the once rolling hills. Within days, arose a postmodern almond orchard of some 40 acres. Continue reading “When Land Is History”

Remembering the Dead, from Selma

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

I confess this is the first time in my life I will break the old Hellenic rule: ton tethnvêkota mê kakologein(speak no ill of the dead). That Gore Vidal was a cruel person is no excuse for not refraining from criticism after his recent death, but here I sin nonetheless. Continue reading “Remembering the Dead, from Selma”

The Muddle East

by Victor Davis Hanson

National Review Online

No one has any idea what the Middle East will look like next year, much less in five years — especially the revolutionary players themselves. Continue reading “The Muddle East”

The Media’s Racial Prison

by Bruce Thornton

Frontpage Magazine

Two incidents last week suggest once more that our confused, hypocritical, and politicized notions of race and relations will play a huge role in the presidential election. In the first, Virginia state senator L. Louise Lucas, part of Obama’s “Truth Team” campaigning for the president in Virginia, told a radio interviewer, “Mitt Romney, he’s speaking to … a segment of the population who does not like to see people other than a white man in the White House or in any other elective position. Continue reading “The Media’s Racial Prison”

California: The Road Warrior Is Here

by Victor Davis Hanson

PJ Media

Where’s Mel Gibson When You Need Him?

George Miller’s 1981 post-apocalyptic film The Road Warrior [1] envisioned an impoverished world of the future. Tribal groups fought over what remained of a destroyed Western world of law, technology, and mass production. Survival went to the fittest — or at least those who could best scrounge together the artifacts of a long gone society somewhat resembling the present West. Continue reading “California: The Road Warrior Is Here”

MSM Facilitates Destruction of the Pyramids

by Raymond Ibrahim

Frontpage Magazine

Because the article “Calls to Destroy Egypt’s Great Pyramids Begin” went viral on the Internet — read nearly 400,000 times on FrontPage Magazinealone where it first appeared — as expected, the infamous “hoax” charge has been made to lull the West back to sleep. Continue reading “MSM Facilitates Destruction of the Pyramids”