History

Lessons of World War I

Much of what we think we know is false; what really happened matters desperately to us today. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online  This summer will mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I, and we should reflect on the “lessons” we have been taught so often on how to avoid another such […]

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The Death of the Humanities

A liberal arts education was once a gateway to wisdom; now it can breed ignorance and arrogance. by Victor Davis Hanson // Defining Ideas  The humanities are in their latest periodic crisis. Though the causes of the ongoing decline may be debated, everyone accepts the dismal news about eroding university enrollments, ever fewer new faculty positions,

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The Idol of Equality

To put equality ahead of liberty is to war against human nature. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online  “There is, in fact, a manly and lawful passion for equality which excites men to wish all to be powerful and honored. This passion tends to elevate the humble to the rank of the great; but

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The Rural Way

by Victor Davis Hanson // PJ Media  Hard physical work is still a requisite for a sound outlook on an ever more crazy world. I ride a bike; but such exercise is not quite the same, given that the achievement of doing 35 miles is therapeutic for the body and mind, but does not lead to

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Is China copying the old imperial Japan

by Victor Davis Hanson // Tribune Media  In the 1920s, Japan began to translate its growing economic might — after a prior 50-year crash course in Western capitalism and industrialization — into formidable military power. Share This

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2014: Year of Decision

by Bruce S. Thornton // FrontPage Magazine  This year we will see if America is still a center-right country, or if Obama’s two terms will mark a historic shift to the left. History and recent events give cause for optimism, subject, of course, to unforeseen events. The champions of big government, wealth redistribution through taxation and

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Nelson Mandela, Western Saint

by Bruce S. Thornton // FrontPage Magazine  The passing of Nelson Mandela has been attended with the usual global encomia we have come to expect from those political leaders who have become international celebrities. Sometimes these extravagant praises and out-sized mourning surpass any real achievement. It is hard to find any justification in Princess Diana’s life

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How Presidents Lie

It’s nothing new for a president to lie to us, but Obama’s style is unique. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online  In the past there have been all sorts of presidential fibbing. Some chief executives make promises that they know they probably cannot or will not keep. Before his reelection for his third term

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Ignoring History: The Folly of Our Iran Pact

Dictatorships abandon treaties when they become inconvenient. by Victor Davis Hanson // National Review Online  According to our recently proposed treaty with the Iranian government, Iran keeps much of its nuclear program while agreeing to slow its path to weapons-grade enrichment. The Iranians also get crippling economic sanctions lifted.  Share This

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Why Should We Study War?

Military history tells the story of human nature at its great heights and terrible lows. by Bruce S. Thornton // Defining Ideas  In the latter years of World War I, Winston Churchill met with the novelist and poet Siegfried Sassoon. Sassoon was a winner of the Military Cross––he single-handedly routed 60 Germans and captured a trench

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