"In our personal ambitions we are individualists. But in our seeking for economic and political progress as a nation, we all go up or else all go down as one people." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt The world economy has shifted significantly over the last few hundred years, particularly in the West. As feudalism gave way …
Category: Of Historical Note
The Value of Apprenticeship
It is my great pleasure to announce that my brother-in-law and I completed our two year falconry apprenticeship yesterday! We couldn't have done it without the guidance and support of our sponsor, Buster Brown, the patience and stoicism of our trusty Red-tailed Hawks, Lexi and Heath, and the words of advice from many others in …
Dress Smartly
"It is only the modern that ever becomes old-fashioned." ~ Oscar Wilde I had the rare and exciting opportunity to attend a "black tie" birthday party for a friend of mine last evening. Rarely do I give much thought to tuxedos, but wearing mine last evening caused me to look up the history of the …
The Purpose of Mankind
What would you say is the purpose of mankind? I had a fascinating conversation yesterday with a friend of mine about classical education, 18th and 19th century American history, the great pendulum upon which humanity seems to swing and finally, what we both do for a living and why. My friend, a classically trained equestrian …
Uncorrupted Reason
I came across a remarkable collection of works produced by Thomas Cole, the English-born American artist who is credited with founding the Hudson River School. Cole possessed an uncommon ability to capture broad strokes of history in his landscapes. Cole aimed to produce a "higher style of landscape" imbued with romanticism and naturalism unparalleled in …
Dead Symbols
I am reading a book recommended by a friend called "The Culture of Classicism", written by history professor Caroline Winterer. The author notes that the book "charts how Americans over the course of the 19th century fundamentally changed their relationship with classical antiquity, seeking in the remote past new guides for modern life." The late …
The Almost Right Word
"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning." ~ Mark Twain, Letter to George Bainton, 10/15/1888 So the reading of the Constitution was interesting, as much for what they left out as for the fact that they read it …
Reverence for Life
The holidays are fast upon us and I had the good pleasure of watching A Charlie Brown Christmas with my sons after dinner last evening. At one point in the show, Linus mentioned that Albert Schweitzer's dislike of Christmas stemmed from the fact that he did not take kindly to writing thank you notes. I …
A Converging World
The last two hundred years were particularly transformative for humanity. Dramatic increases in both longevity and wealth swept across the globe, affecting the industrialized nations first and the developing nations second. While a wide gap remains between the richest and the poorest nations, just about every nation is better off no than they were two …
Good Policy: Magnanimity
MAGNANIM'ITY, n. [L. magnanimitas; magnus, great, and animus, mind.] Greatness of mind; that elevation or dignity of soul, which encounters danger and trouble with tranquillity and firmness, which raises the possessor above revenge, and makes him delight in acts of benevolence, which makes him disdain injustice and meanness, and prompts him to sacrifice personal ease, …
Gregory Hake 