Architecture professor Thomas De Monchaux, in a piece that has almost nothing to do with economic policy, helps to clarify thinking about the concept of austerity: Economically, austerity — which the Germans, among others, are intent on forcing upon their southern brethren — can sound like a good idea, but might actually exacerbate the conditions it ostensibly …
Monthly Archive: February 2012
Feb 18 2012
The Age of Wonder: Science as a Means to Emancipation
Richard Holmes’ 2009 tome is aptly titled. It’s a wonder, and it takes an age to read it. Right. I wanted to get that out of the way, as the fact of its lengthiness weighs on me as I consider penning a reaction to its substance. It feels really long. But, as with many efforts, …
Feb 13 2012
Crime Has Not Fallen in the United States, It’s Been Shifted
My mind (and sense of conscience) was blown by an article in n + 1 on the horror that is the American prison system. I won’t go into the horrifying detail, but suffice it to say that the wrongs done to small-time crooks and mere drug addicts, all with the knowledge of — and collusion with — prison authorities, …
Feb 07 2012
Reading is Self-Mastery
D.G. Myers positions reading not as an escape but as a challenge to ourselves: To read an author is to read someone different from ourselves. Reading is not a means of self-affirmation, but of self-denial. Any book that is any good challenges its readers: This is so, isn’t it? Did you know this? Have you considered that? [ … …
Feb 06 2012
Mitt Romney is Not One of Skeletor’s Henchmen
This should give you an idea about where my brain is at any given time. In today’s New York Times, a pieceabout Mitt Romney and his faith is accompanied by this image: Which is, of course, in reference to the word Mormon, which is, of course, Mitt Romney’s religion. But I immediately thought it was a reference to Merman, …
About the Author
Recent Comments