19th Century Day
I was born 22,314 days ago. 22,314 days before that it was still the 19th century.
Read moreCategory Archives: History
If We Shouldn’t Judge the Founders by Our Values, Should We Live by Theirs?
The argument that we can’t judge historical figures by current standards is an explicit affirmation that their values are not applicable in the 21st century.
Read moreWhy Am I So Cynical About Mississippi? Consider Georgia.
Recently the Rev. Dickie and I devoted a little time to clowning Mississippi and its decision to remove the Confederate battle jack from its flag. It has since been suggested to me, privately, that I shouldn’t hassle people who are doing the right thing. Maybe. I mean, better 150 years late than never, right? But there are reasons to reserve
Read moreMore on Mississippi and the Flag (See What We Did There?)
The Rev. Dickie yesterday “broke” the “leaked” design for the new Mississippi state flag, which will no longer contain the Confederate battle jack. Lots of people saw the post but almost nobody reacted, leading me to suspect many may have missed his snark.
Read moreBREAKING: New Mississippi Flag Design Leaked
Both houses of the Mississippi legislature yesterday voted to remove the Confederate battle jack from the state’s flag. Gov. Tate Reeves has said he will sign the bill. In anticipation of this move a team of artists and historians have spent the past week working on a new flag design. An anonymous source shared the proposed new flag with Lullaby
Read moreA New American Rushmore
As I noted the other day, America has a Mt. Rushmore problem. So what if we dynamited the thing, found a new rock and started over? What would Rushmore mk2 look like were we to begin anew, informed by our current values as a society? Here’s a proposal.
Read more6/19/1865
NASCAR’s Nuts Are in a Vice
NASCAR this week announced they’re banning the Confederate battle jack from all properties and events. Ray Ciccarelli, who was in witness protection on the truck circuit, immediately announced he was quitting in protest. The drama continued this morning as Jimmie Johnson, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch said they were severing their relationships with a helmet designer who decided
Read moreKent State and 75 Minutes That Changed My Life
I was nine when Kent State happened. I was a very current events-minded kid and read about it in the paper and saw the news. But I didn’t really understand it all. So I absorbed the narrative around me: buncha damned hippie punks got what they deserved. The event was never a big deal in my life. I grew up
Read more#ArtSunday: What’s the Greatest Book You Ever Read?
My buddy Jim Booth put together a quarantine reading list for our little S&R community this week and it got me thinking. So let’s pose a challenge. What is the greatest work of literature you’ve ever read? The Rules It can be a novel, a collection of short fiction, a book of poetry, a play (yes, Shakespeare is eligible), or
Read moreThe Five Best Things on Facebook
Facebook is a discordant marketplace-of-ideas battle royale unlike anything in human history. Most of it is inane (or worse) dreck. But some of it is brilliant – enlightening, uplifting, empathetic. If we could get rid of the 99.99% that isn’t we’d have a foundation for a better world. But we can’t. So for now we’ll have to make do with
Read moreHow Are We Making History Today?
The COVID-19 pandemic is the defining moment of our generation. The last global crisis of this magnitude was World War II, and with any luck we won’t see anything this dire again for decades. That’s probably wishful thinking, for a variety of reasons (climate, for instance), but we can hope. We’re living in History – with a capital H.As in,
Read moreJobs, Zuckerberg, Bezos: what do our titans of tech say about us?
We have met the enemy and he is us.
Read morePrivilege, thy name is Amy Wax
The Amy Wax/UPenn problem isn’t about academic freedom, it’s about unexamined privilege. And firing her won’t solve the problem.
Read moreColumbine: it was 20 years ago today
It’s been 20 years. I’m not sure I have anything new to say. On April 20, 1999, at 11:19am MDT, the world changed.
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