The Age of Austerity and the Assault on Britain’s LibrariesReading United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Professor Philip Alston’s report on his visit to Britain and…Nov 8Nov 8
James Ponsoldt’s The Circle and the Tyranny of Generic ClassificationI missed James Ponsoldt’s The Circle when it first came out back in 2017 but caught it on streaming some years later. As I had largely…Nov 7Nov 7
“Entrepreneurship” and Self-Made Millionairedom in H.G. Wells’ Tono-BungayReflecting upon the rise and fall of his uncle’s pharmaceutical empire in H.G. Wells’ Tono-Bungay (1909) George Ponderovo remarks “the…Nov 7Nov 7
What Do We Mean by “Freedom of Speech?” And the Defense of the Right to That Freedom?The remark “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” is famously attributed to the eighteenth…Nov 7Nov 7
Why Are We Always Being Told to “Be Grateful?”It is the conventional view that the feeling and expression of gratitude — of thankfulness — is a great virtue, and its lack a great…Nov 7Nov 7
“Traditional vs. Self-Publishing”Back when there was more talk about the phenomenon of self-publishing than we hear now due to the comparative novelty of e-book readers…Nov 7Nov 7
Where Do People Get the Idea That They Are Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaires?In Slaughter-house Five Kurt Vonnegut’s narrator presents a lengthy passage from a (fictional) monograph about America intended to help…Nov 7Nov 7
The Waning of Nostalgia for the Rat PackI remember that in the late ’90s there was a resurgence of interest in the old “Rat Pack” and its members and their works. Thus did we see…Nov 7Nov 7
Of Generalizations, Sweeping Generalizations, and the Idiots Who Refuse to Respect the Difference…The word “generalization” may be defined as “a general proposition about the world, typically obtained from observation of the world, and…Nov 7Nov 7
Stanley Kubrick and the “F” WordSome time ago I looked over those charges and countercharges about the politics of A Clockwork Orange between its director Stanley Kubrick…Nov 7Nov 7