Category: navel gazing

So. Can somebody explain to me why bars and liquor stores are closed today? I mean, I understand, more or less, why Connecticut closes bars and liquor stores on New Year’s Day, and I understand why Connecticut closes bars and…

Another note in a series on Is the American Dream Killing You? by Paul Stiles. Chapter Eight, “The Modern Gd” One thing that distinguishes exceptionalists that pay lip service to pluralism from actual pluralists is that the exceptionalists are eager…

Another note in a series on Is the American Dream Killing You? by Paul Stiles. Chapter Eight, “The Modern Gd” First, let me get this out of the way: Mr. Stiles begins and ends the chapter with what he considers…

Another note in a series on Is the American Dream Killing You? by Paul Stiles. Chapter Seven: “The Ozone Hole” This is essentially thirty pages about how corrupt the world of Big Business is. He gives several good examples, some…

Another note in a series on Is the American Dream Killing You? by Paul Stiles. We really are nearly done here. I have been thinking about giving up, simply because we are past the point in the book where I…

Another note in a series on Is the American Dream Killing You? by Paul Stiles. Chapter Five: “Jolts Per Minute” Yes, this is the one where the author complains about bear-baiting and cock-fighting, which are … wait a minute, no,…

Another note in a series on Is the American Dream Killing You? by Paul Stiles. Chapter Four: Flatland The idea of this chapter, I think is that The Market flattens out the natural, Platonic hierarchy of character, and pushes as…

Another note in a series on Is the American Dream Killing You? by Paul Stiles. Chapter Three: The Bubble Mr. Stiles talks about The Bubble as being the artificial environment created, essentially by advertising. We are, he says, surrounded by…

Another note in a series on Is the American Dream Killing You? by Paul Stiles. The next chapter is really got up Your Humble Bloggers nose. It’s called “Meltdown”, and just give you a clue, Gentle Reader, it begins with…

The TPM Café’s Book Club last week was discussing a book called Off Center: The Republican Revolution and the Erosion of American Democracy. The conversation was interesting and wide-ranging, but some of it, and particularly the comments, indulged in one…