thoughts in and out of season
Inclusiveness tells us that characteristics that traditionally define personal identity have no legitimate social role. If my specific identity as a man or member of a particular people is connected to my position in the world, that’s intolerable and something has to be done about it.
That can’t be the end of the story. We … More ...
Does Obama’s handshake/bow to the Japanese emperor remind anyone else of a high school kid clowning for the camera in a yearbook picture?
A friend sent me something he was writing on the political prospects for protectionist legislation. I sent him the following response, which I’ve edited a bit and relates to much more than protectionism:
… More ...In general, your discussion follows the interest-group, competing political party, voter sovereignty model of political life in a modern democracy.
I sometimes
I’ve decided to return to blogging, and I’ve marked the event with a new slogan and a few other minor changes.
The new slogan reflects the basic weblog situation—one man commenting on whatever comes to mind. I wanted a change, and “tradition and Catholicism” seemed a bit like “truth and logic” as a slogan when … More ...
There’s a longish interview with me at Ignatius Insight, the website of Ignatius Press.
Here is the text of a talk I gave at the H. L. Mencken Club conference.
October 31, 2009
The other speakers have discussed foreign policy by reference to specifically American tendencies. I will discuss something that I think is more general, advanced liberalism—the dominant … More ...
Yet another review, this one by Carl Olson in Catholic World Report. It’s longer than average (two three-column pages) and quite favorable:
… More ...The Tyranny of Liberalism … is the work of an imaginative conservative who offers frank criticism and expresses the truth about authentic values and the permanent things with notable clarity, unusual insight,
A weblog “dedicated to the late Murray Rothbard” gives a detailed and very positive review of my book, calling it “provocative and profound,” and “a book I recommend to all” that “defends a traditional conservatism one can respect.”
The blogger, of course, is a libertarian. The biggest difference he can see between my views and … More ...
Here’s a chapter from 2008 for a projected collection of essays. The book never got published, but here’s what I wrote:
PC and the Destruction of Culture
by James Kalb
Political correctness is an odd tendency. It does not fit in with how people normally think about things, so no one knows what to make … More ...
There’s another review of my book, this one in the August Chronicles. It’s short (2/3 page) but lavish in its praise (“Savor that felicitous prose … Rejoice that another voice has been added … “). The author is the Rev. Lloyd E. Gross, a retired Lutheran pastor (Missouri Synod).