Recent Comments
Not quite right
Comment posted by Lydia on Mar 16, 11:59:
Good points, Beth. There is something that emotions are _for_. Rhetoric, properly used, involves connecting emotions rightly to reality. It seems to me that the poster from the Abortion Changes You campaign in which a man says, "My wife always gets depressed on the day when our daughter was aborted" is a good piece of rhetoric. Why does his wife get depressed? Nobody says, "My wife always gets depressed on the anniversary of her tonsillectomy." ... [More]
Not quite right
Comment posted by Beth Impson on Mar 16, 11:34:
Good post, Lydia. Being in the business of teaching writing, I encounter this question all the time: should we use emotional appeal in our writing, and if so, how much? People who argue against using emotion at all, focusing solely on reason, forget that it is God who made us emotional beings. And in fact it is touching the emotions that often moves the will to action. I *know* a lot of good reasons I shouldn't do certain things -- but that doesn't always stop me doing them. I often need to understand ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by Paul J Cella on Mar 16, 10:16:
I'll add that our society as a whole does a miserable job of addressing the condition of those of below-average intelligence. Not only do we like to pretend that they don't exist, but we have also so ordered our educational system as to slowly grind them to bits. Vocational schools, the trades, the dignity of even manual labor -- these vital social resources for the more humble of intellect have been declining for decades. After about 3rd grade, our educational system increasingly selects for the bright and ... [More]
Catholic Imperialism: The Bulls of Donation
Comment posted by Zippy on Mar 16, 09:48:
There are also no Catholic nations which are more right with God either as a nation. Malta? (One of my favorite patron saints is St. George Preca, the first canonized Maltese saint. I had the privilege of attending his canonization Mass in St. Peter's Square in Rome. Odd fact: St. George Preca was a smoker, and often used the offer of a smoke to sailors as a way to start a conversation). ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by Lydia on Mar 16, 09:09:
There are statistical problems with arguing from "what home schoolers think about their children" against the (as Paul says) statistically unimpeachable proposition that half of the children in the world are below average. (Is the Lake Woebegone fallacy now to be a required mental attitude in the name of "not giving up on people"?) Average or above-average parents are less likely than below-average parents to have below-average children. Of course, it happens; it's just statistically less likely. And below ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by Mike T on Mar 16, 08:38:
I can't tell you how many times students have told me this and I don't doubt that it's true. Teaching math takes a certain kind of patience that not everyone has. I realized what the problem was when I finished my Calculus class in college: it was the first class where the teacher actually explained **why** the logic works and what the goal really is. However, with the right kind of teachers, you could have made progress. Perhaps, but progress is not so much the issue as timing. I would have been better ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by Mulder on Mar 16, 08:02:
By the time I reached college, my main problem with math was a lack of education due to having had mostly bad teachers. I can't tell you how many times students have told me this and I don't doubt that it's true. Teaching math takes a certain kind of patience that not everyone has. Certainly there are learning issues which have to be worked through by some, but that's just part of what makes the public school system broken. A homeschooling setting can provide the kind of environment one needs to work th ... [More]
Catholic Imperialism: The Bulls of Donation
Comment posted by Mike T on Mar 16, 07:18:
Yes, there is. Which I why neither I, nor the Church in the Bulls of Donation, promote unleashing violence on people to make them bend the knee in submission to Christ. Making a territory safe for the Gospel to be preached and missions to be established is not "conversion by the sword" by a long stretch. Christ never rebuked legitimate governments from doing what legitimate governments do, which is wield the sword, administer justice, and under certain conditions, wage war. What I got out of them was that ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by Mike T on Mar 16, 06:59:
In 7th grade, some of us students (I'd guess roughly half just thinking of faces) were placed in the pre-algebra class, myself included. Other students were not, they were placed in the basic math class. Being so young at the time, I wondered the reason. I knew I was a good student and deserved the chance to take the class, but why not some of my friends? I wondered what the criteria had been for some of us to go through and not others. Or it could have been like my school where the principal realized tha ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by Paul J Cella on Mar 16, 06:49:
Mulder, as I'm sure you know, (2) is, as a matter of statistical fact, absolutely unassailable. ... [More]
Catholic Imperialism: The Bulls of Donation
Comment posted by Jeff Culbreath on Mar 16, 04:38:
And using Christ's scourging of the moneychangers as a model for dropping bombs on people is ridiculous. You know, Bill, I'm not interested in responding to your nasty little caricatures. I have too little time for this as it is. Cheers. ... [More]
Catholic Imperialism: The Bulls of Donation
Comment posted by Jeff Culbreath on Mar 16, 04:13:
Mike T., I'm going to assume that I just haven't communicated well rather than assume you are willfully misrepresenting my arguments. There is a substantial difference between driving out people who are openly making a mockery of the temple and unleashing violence on people to make them bend the knee in submission to Christ. Yes, there is. Which I why neither I, nor the Church in the Bulls of Donation, promote unleashing violence on people to make them bend the knee in submission to Christ. Making a ter ... [More]
Catholic Imperialism: The Bulls of Donation
Comment posted by Jeff Culbreath on Mar 16, 03:54:
Those who think the conditions were not met (well, some of them) seem to think that we as Americans should have been in opposition and even non-compliance because the war "was not a just war". I have not seen this argued at all well: if the responsibility belongs to those in authority, then aren't we obligated to obey them in their decision, at least up until the point where their offense against justice is so clear and so grave as to call for rebellion? (I am not referring to voting against such rulers, ... [More]
Catholic Imperialism: The Bulls of Donation
Comment posted by Jeff Culbreath on Mar 16, 03:47:
On what count did the Iraq war fail? Based, that is, on your quotes from Aquinas and New Advent. Bill, the quotes from Aquinas and the Catholic Encyclopedia pertain only to one of seven or eight conditions for a just war: just cause. The Iraq War had a just cause. That does not make it a just war. In my opinion, which I regret introducing, the Iraq War fails the just war test on several counts - there was never a reasonable chance of success (in part because "success" was never clearly defined), the damag ... [More]
What's Wrong With Distributism
Comment posted by al on Mar 16, 01:08:
"Given the vast disparities in productive potential found in nature between individuals, between ethnicities, between races, and so on " I missed this but someone should say something, I guess. Individuals, of course, but it's not 1910. ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by Mulder on Mar 16, 00:21:
And, for the record, I think the public school system is a grand liberal experiment gone totally wrong. Humpty just can't be put back together again. Homeschooling is my preferred method to deal with 1). And, interestingly enough, how many homeschooling parents on here think 2) about their own children? ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by Mulder on Mar 16, 00:18:
Well I can't speak for you, Steve, but I can give you an important example from my own experience (without naming the names though...that seems a little over the top and, frankly, not relevant to demonstrate that some people are lazy and all too willing to label people, something I'd be shocked to see you not agree with). In 7th grade, some of us students (I'd guess roughly half just thinking of faces) were placed in the pre-algebra class, myself included. Other students were not, they were placed in the ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by steve burton on Mar 15, 23:19:
Mulder, who are these people "who want to give up on people?" Could you name some names and provide some evidence for that *extremely nasty* charge? ... [More]
What's Wrong With Distributism
Comment posted by Tony on Mar 15, 22:47:
Lydia, I agree with almost everything you said. Including "despair," sort of, anyway. And Zippy, I tend to think you are right in saying that When the patient will die is always an open question; but that he will die is now assured. If things are not changed dramatically by immense infusions of grace, that there will be an end to the current order is predictable. Nevertheless, I don't think that we have the right to sit back and watch the inevitable unfold and while we fiddle. For one thing, what a ... [More]
Recovering Sight after Scientism
Comment posted by Joseph A. on Mar 15, 21:35:
"I think your definition of naturalism is rather narrow if you believe that to be true, you would have to say Daniel Dennett isn't a naturalist. You may be closer to the mark with secularism, but that is the problem with realizing that somewhere between hunter-gather societies and modern civilization, the laws and values changed." I have zero problems calling out Daniel Dennett and numerous others for being inconsistent with regards to their proclaimed naturalism. If the preferred measure is "Do they call ... [More]
Distributism in practice?
Comment posted by Step2 on Mar 15, 21:05:
Unless you can print your own currency, it doesn't really count as a country. I will be happy to purchase any Zip-a-dee-doo-dollars as collector's items. ... [More]
Recovering Sight after Scientism
Comment posted by Step2 on Mar 15, 20:49:
Insofar as naturalists truly allow for real moral senses (as in people actually sensing what is a real moral order) not to mention actual objective moral laws and values, they cease to be naturalist, not to mention secularists. I think your definition of naturalism is rather narrow if you believe that to be true, you would have to say Daniel Dennett isn't a naturalist. You may be closer to the mark with secularism, but that is the problem with realizing that somewhere between hunter-gather societies and m ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by Mulder on Mar 15, 20:11:
1) ability varies; 2) half of children are below average; 3) too many people are going to college; 4) the future of America depends on how we educate the academically gifted. 1) is obviously true. 2) is a sad axiom of those who want to give up on people. How do we know what half of people we have in a classroom? What if a classroom is full of people in the top half? It would be unjust to rob someone of a good education because someone pigeonholed them into number two, which I believe happened to som ... [More]
What's Wrong With Distributism
Comment posted by Just Some Guy on Mar 15, 19:45:
~~JSG, what is "consumerism"? If you mean for junk, then it's a problem, though only if it's clearly immoral or poisonous junk (as in _real_ pornography) am I looking for the government to stop it.~~ Who said anything about the government stopping it? I'm talking about attempting, from the bottom up, via education and what might be called "traditioning," to change people's desires so they won't want junk -- junk food, junk clothes, junk entertainment, etc. The corporate bread-and-circus dispensers will c ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by Lydia on Mar 15, 16:29:
If I may insert something on the bastardy problem without (hopefully) thread-jacking, this is why we should be alarmed at trends in law and society that discourage adoption. I recently was told by someone in New Zealand that it is probably illegal in New Zealand for a young woman, pregnant out of wedlock, to designate that she wants Christian parents for her child if she decides to place the child for adoption. Adoption agencies aren't allowed to "discriminate"--in that or other ways. This discourages adopt ... [More]
Distributism in practice?
Comment posted by steve burton on Mar 15, 16:27:
If Zippy refuses to serve, perhaps J.R.R. Tolkien might be persuaded to return from the dead to fill this essential post. ... [More]
Distributism in practice?
Comment posted by Gary Keith Chesterton on Mar 15, 16:21:
I would eagerly seek Chesterbelloc citizenship, if it didn't mean I'd lose my security clearance, and hence my job. I'm a wage slave! ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by steve burton on Mar 15, 16:07:
Scott W.: seconded. and thirded. and fourthed. and I am unanimous in that! Mike T: I assume that you've seen this (ironically titled) short piece by Charles Murray: "The advantages of social apartheid", which points out the disastrous consequences of our refusal to apply the stick when it comes to bastardy. Anytime anybody calls you cruel or unchristian for making similar points, just think of what good company you're in. Gina Danaher: I can't agree that the root of every mess is sin, but certainly many. ... [More]
What's Wrong With Distributism
Comment posted by M.Z. on Mar 15, 15:25:
Our country is ruled by a few. ... [More]
What's Wrong With Distributism
Comment posted by Paul J Cella on Mar 15, 15:24:
Al -- because it is a question that can never be answered finally and definitively. You may have noticed that perhaps the two highest profile columnists in the country's highest profile liberal newspaper (I refer to Friedman and Krugman) have both recently written admiringly of China's rule by the few. Europe looks every day more like rule by the few as well. ... [More]
What's Wrong With Distributism
Comment posted by al on Mar 15, 15:08:
"Zippy -- that still leaves open the question of whether the rulers should be the one, the few or the many, and which form is most conducive to goodness and prudence." How can this question even be asked in 2010 CE? After 5 or 6,000 years of experience, one doesn't seem to work very well, ditto for the few. That leaves the many with all of its shortcomings (Churchill). The last few posts have likely made it clear to neutral observers that there isn't a there there with conservatism. Social democracie ... [More]
What's Wrong With Distributism
Comment posted by Paul J Cella on Mar 15, 14:46:
Zippy -- that still leaves open the question of whether the rulers should be the one, the few or the many, and which form is most conducive to goodness and prudence. ... [More]
What's Wrong With Distributism
Comment posted by Zippy on Mar 15, 14:33:
Let me put my last point this way. Laissez-faire is to economics what anarchism is to governance. By creating a truncated imaginary world in which "can't we all just get along" becomes the implicit principle of stability in the new world order, advocates of both lay claim to possession of the twin pillars of reason and morality. This works out great in their fantasy stories. In reality, not so much. That is why the reality of Marxism differs so dramatically from the fantasy of classless-freedom- ... [More]
Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, 1936-2009
Comment posted by Leatrice Pepin on Mar 15, 14:31:
Hi, you got a great blog, I'm just looking for some websites about Twillight fans such as me because I've found an fresh trailer about the new Eclipse Saga. And want to know what you think about it? Maybe you can help with you opinion?! I really don't want to show shit around the globe!! Thanks ... [More]
What's Wrong With Distributism
Comment posted by M.Z. on Mar 15, 13:39:
Consumerism: The pursuit of transitory and pleasure often resulting in the seeking of disposable goods. Wage-Slavery: The ideal case is where all your temporal pleasures are provided from your wage that comes from work dictated to you. Lots of people prefer slavery, be it wage or legal. Supposedly it is bad because it restrains the good of freedom. And for all the talk about the unrealistic nature of distributism, I'm afraid I can match with countless examples of the US being called a good example of ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by Jeff Singer on Mar 15, 12:34:
Steve, Wow. I just finished Murray's latest book and while his ideas for reform are excellent, it is worth repeating for everyone his four basic truths that he builds the book around: 1) ability varies; 2) half of children are below average; 3) too many people are going to college; 4) the future of America depends on how we educate the academically gifted. If the entire educational establishment could just absorb the truth of 1 and 2, we would be in a lot better shape than we are now. Steve Sailer i ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by Gina Danaher on Mar 15, 11:53:
In many of the school systems across America the teachers have been reduced to babysitters at best. In more and more schools systems across that same America, they have been elevated to wardens without guns to back up their attempts to keep order in the jail. It's all a mess. And at the root of every mess is sin and a culture that embraces it while holding to a form of godliness. ... [More]
What's Wrong With Distributism
Comment posted by Lydia on Mar 15, 11:07:
Blackadder, well said. JSG, vhat is "consumerism"? If you mean for junk, then it's a problem, though only if it's clearly immoral or poisonous junk (as in _real_ pornography) am I looking for the government to stop it. If you're talking about cheap T-shirts and socks, then I say, bring on the consumerism. If you're talking about buildings you don't like the look of, then I really couldn't care less. Especially if they contain cheap T-shirts and socks. I have a family to clothe. Kevin Jones, good question ... [More]
Recovering Sight after Scientism
Comment posted by johnt on Mar 15, 10:52:
Joseph A, good link. There is another fallacy in the purely naturalist order, the exclusion & denial of the person as having an intrinsic moral stature, a being with both moral needs and the necessary subset of requisite, inherent human structure that demands this. The person is excluded from the natural order, is thus manipulable, changeable, and controllable. He becomes separated from nature, even an enemy of it, and lacking a foundational essence, offers himself to a hierarchy of technocracy. ... [More]
Everything's Up to Date in Kansas City!
Comment posted by Michael on Mar 15, 10:05:
You forget item 9 1/2. The School district lost accreditation. ... [More]