A Dozen-Plus Stimulants, Gathered for Your Edification and Inspiration
Dear Intelligent American,
This being Good Friday for most practicing Christians, respect shall be paid to its deserved solemnity, and only the standard fare of Civil Thoughts shall be offered.
Reading Suggestions to Inspire the Curious and Interested
1. At The Daily Signal, Arjun Buxi urges that America not give up yet on California. From the article:
To people from sea to shining sea of this great country who want to write California off, I urge you: don’t give up on it just yet.
California is full of people trying to make this place better. There are people fighting every day on school boards, city councils, town halls, and elsewhere, arguing for clean and safe streets, good schooling, better jobs, reasonable taxes, and good middle-class housing.
This Golden State is a behemoth of resources, talent, and smarts. But more importantly it is a place blessed with many genuinely good people.
Listen out for stories of real Californians—the roundtables feverishly looking for solutions, the George choosing pride over a check, the rare outsider who still wants in. The fundamentals are strong: innovation, hard work, the natural bounty that drew me across an ocean.
2. At The American Mind, fan favorite Daniel J. Mahoney, scholar supreme, considers the continuity of Western Civilization and the need for an American renewal. From the piece:
No, by this path we arrive at the political phenomenon that French thinkers such as Mathieu Bock-Côté and Pierre Manent have interchangeably called the “extreme center” or “the fanaticism of the center.” This counterfeit centrism is in fact complicit in a willful project to purge historical liberalism of its once fruitful coexistence with the conservative foundations that gave it civilizational heft and moral seriousness. Indeed, one is only a few crucial steps away from the quintessentially ideological act of replacing the perennial moral and intellectual distinctions between truth and falsehood and good and evil with the deeply pernicious and inherently totalitarian distinction between progress and reaction. . . .
If the best elements of modern liberalism are to be saved, and revitalized in the process, as I think they should be, we must renew their conservative foundations. That requires firmly resisting the temptation to reduce liberalism to modern skepticism informed by indifference or even hostility to religion or the philosophical search for truth.
The liberal republicanism of the American Founders is unthinkable without confidence in the sanctity of the person that owes infinitely more to the Christian inheritance than it does to skepticism or desiccated rationalism. More generally, the founders did not equate a “new order of the ages” with a break in the continuity of Western and Christian civilization. They drew freely on the wisdom of the Greeks and Romans, the Christian centuries, and the moderate Enlightenment (for example, their political understandings of Locke and “the celebrated Montesquieu”). Theirs was indeed a revolution, but “a revolution of sober expectations,” to use Martin Diamond’s fine phrase, that based politics squarely “on the capacity of mankind for self-government” (Federalist 39). One must do justice to both sides of that equation.
3. At Brussels Signal, Ralph Schoellhammer concludes that pre-revolutionary conditions are emerging in Europe. From the analysis:
For those who inhabit the higher echelons of European society, concerns about electricity bills and the price of bread may seem remote. They are not remote for a significant portion of the population. And the conditions are deteriorating. In Germany, new taxes are being proposed while energy infrastructure faces disruption on multiple fronts. With the Strait of Hormuz crisis constraining global oil flows and attacks on Russian energy infrastructure potentially removing 40 per cent of Russian export capacity from the market, a significant inflationary shock is heading toward Europe in the coming weeks. This is not a prediction requiring sophisticated modelling; it is arithmetic.
The comparison Europeans hear most frequently is with the 1930s — the spectre of fascism, the return of the far Right. This comparison has its uses as a political weapon, but as historical analysis it misses the mark. The more accurate parallel is 1789 or 1917: Societies in which the economic contract between rulers and ruled is breaking down, and in which the institutions that hold nations together are losing their capacity to do so. What holds many European countries together today is not national solidarity, not shared identity, not cultural cohesion. It is the welfare state. The postmodern neoliberal dream was that cooperation would be sustained by economic interest alone. You do not need to share a language or a culture with your neighbour; you need to do business with him. If he prospers, you prosper, and there is no reason to fight. This was the foundational logic of the European Union, and to a certain extent the logic of globalisation itself. The problem is that this arrangement works until it does not. When the economic bargain ceases to deliver, what remains to sustain solidarity?
Important Message Time . . .
On April 30, the Center for Civil Society will host another must-catch webinar, this one on “The Power of Planned Giving”—something overlooked by way too many nonprofits. Yours Truly will emcee the discussion with Sandy Shrader and Stephanie Conway, two of AmPhil’s primo planned-giving experts—it will all take place from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern) via Zoom, and of course, it’s free. Get more information, and register, right here.
. . . Now, Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Suggestions
4. At Cana Academy, Jeannette DeCelles-Zwerneman investigates great literature that focuses on regret. From the reflection:
Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Our Town is saturated with sensations of regret. The play takes place in an unremarkable New Hampshire town called Grover’s Corners, and the play centers on two characters—George and Emily—as they journey through what the Stage Manager refers to as life’s three acts: daily life, love and marriage, and death. George and Emily grow up together in this small village and eventually marry and have children. In giving birth to their second child, however, Emily unexpectedly dies. The reader witnesses her funeral and Emily’s disorientation in Act III. Those who have passed away before her encourage her to take her place among the dead and to let the past drift away in a fog of forgetfulness. Dissatisfied, Emily begs the Stage Manager for one last opportunity to experience the life she leaves behind, and he acquiesces. What she discovers is that life’s glories are found in the precious particulars of human life so easily overlooked and even forgotten by the living: her mother’s sunflowers, the aroma of coffee, and the touch of crisply ironed ribbons. All of it, Emily says, is “too wonderful for anybody to realize” while they are alive.
As Wilder’s Stage Manager remarks, only saints and poets seem capable of realizing what life is while they still live; generally, humans seem to live life unable to experience it while in the middle of the swift moving stream of time. For most, life’s beauty only becomes meaningful at the moment of its loss when all that’s left is regret for not having seen what could have been seen. Emily’s regret extends painfully outward to the reader and awakens us to see what the saints and poets see while still living.
5. At Law & Liberty, the irrepressible Titus Techera pays homage to the late Chuck Norris. From the piece:
There’s another way to think about movies, morality, and manliness, and Norris at his best showed that it’s available to people who don’t share in Hollywood’s glamour or its Progressive ideology. Instead, Norris connected manliness, as exemplified by the discipline and power of the martial arts, to justice. His characters almost always pushed people to take responsibility for their own lives while remaining loyal to family, friends, country, and God. This was indeed part of his code and his teaching in his Chuck Norris martial arts system.
Norris’s reputation as a fighter and the severity of his cinematic persona made it plausible that good guys do win, which came as a great relief after the misery of the cinema of the 1970s. And therefore, he encouraged his admiring audience to take any number of major social or global issues seriously, as his movies did, dealing with everything from urban crime to international terrorism without cynicism or despair.
Moreover, his success came at the very moment when the liberal confidence of the ‘60s had fully reversed because of national and international crises in every field from race relations and the economy to war and diplomacy. After the failure of the Great Society came a deep demoralization in the ‘70s. Liberal elites and the New Left blamed the American people for their failure. There was a need for a new politics that would take the side of the people, as the Nixon and Reagan landslide elections showed. But there was also a need for a popular culture that cared about manly citizenship more than about elite prestige. Enter the action movies of the ‘80s.
6. At Tablet Magazine, Nicole Lampert and Zoe Strimpel find that feminism has a Jewish problem. From the beginning of the essay:
“The feminists, the so-called feminists, are no longer concerned with the occupation of women’s bodies worldwide, but rather with the occupation of a country called Palestine, which has never existed. Every single area of feminism in America has been wrecked, ruined and is involved in boiler plate filth against Israel and the Jews.” This is how Phyllis Chesler, 85, the feminist psychotherapist, activist, author and long-time observer of global feminism, describes the current moment.
While Chesler remains warm and cheerful in her demeanor, her disgust with the state of the movement she has dedicated her life to, which is now imploding for the second time because of anti-Zionist antisemitism, is a solid mass. A good 40 years into the fight, and with 20 books under her belt, Chesler is now working on a major tome entitled The Complete and Utter Palestinianization of American Feminism.
For those in the thick of it, and especially for Jewish and Israeli women, none of what Chesler is saying will be a surprise. Last fall, at a weekend conference for FiLiA, a charitable organization that bills itself as Europe’s largest grassroots feminist conference, there were literal fisticuffs. At the Saturday-night party celebrating the outfit’s 20th anniversary, drinks were thrown, telephones were grabbed and bouncers had to hold women back from physically sparring about Zionism. An activist at the opening plenary led some in the chant of “Free Palestine,” while others screamed at her to stop and walked out.
7. At National Review, Guy Denton has called out the search and rescue, looking for trade workers. From the report:
But in high schools across America, teachers and administrators remain exclusively focused on sending students to college. Mark Rowe, vice president of the Jim Rowe Foundation for the Trades—a nonprofit that helps students gain experience in skilled trades—has been concerned about this reality for decades. He has spent his life in the trades and is currently the president of J. Henry Mechanical Inc.—an HVAC maintenance contractor based in Manassas, Va. Over the years, he has found it increasingly difficult to attract young people to the industry. Most students, he believes, simply have no idea that careers in the trades exist.
Rowe said that vocational training wings in public schools “disappeared” in the late 20th century. The notion that college is the sole pathway to success filled the gap. “Because that’s been the only messaging for so long, a lot of parents and high school teachers and counselors are still stuck in that mindset,” he said. Changing the narrative around skilled trades is a complex task, but Rowe’s work in Northern Virginia could provide a template. The Jim Rowe Foundation has partnered with local school systems to raise awareness of trade careers, provide scholarships for students to pursue technical training, and create work-based learning programs. Though the foundation is still in its infancy, Rowe hopes that its reach can expand.
8. At City Journal, Adam Lehodey finds a quartet of charter schools prospering in The Bronx. From the article:
Curriculum is just one part of the story. Two district public schools share the same building with South Bronx Classical I: Acción Academy and I.S. 217 School of Performing Arts.
“The biggest differences you’d see if you walked downstairs [to the other schools] are far higher expectations and a greater attention to detail at Classical,” Long said.
Those high standards extend to everyone—parents included.
For students, expectations include uniforms, storing phones in boxes at the front of the classroom, and the constant expectation that they pay attention. Rules work because “we have the courage to call out [students]” when needed, said Long. But most of the time, order is “achieved through culture” and rewards. Those who do well get stickers, prizes, and even trips abroad, including the capstone to Latin studies: a trip to Italy.
Parents, meantime, are expected to ensure that their children show up. The school day at South Bronx Classical I runs from 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., an hour longer than at public schools. For a student facing disorder at home, a condition commonly found in low-income households, those additional structured hours make a real difference. For parents, too, an additional hour of school allows them to work while minimizing childcare expenses.
9. At The Spectator, the great Bill Kauffman declares that robots are ruining baseball. From the piece:
Major League Baseball has been de-charmed—dehumanized—by grotesque rule changes (a runner mysteriously materializes on second base during extra innings); and potential rule changes (a “Golden at-Bat” permitting a hitter to bat out of order); and the increasing subordination of humans to machines (robo-umps and instant replays). For Yogi’s sake, even catchers now signal the type of pitch they wish the hurler to throw not by wiggling fingers but rather via keypads and wireless receivers.
To grouse about this is to be dismissed as an old man yelling at clouds, but goddammit, some clouds deserve to be yelled at. After all, cumulonimbi carry the rain that washes out games. One might hope that the rot at the top, whose avatar is the execrable commissioner of MLB, Rob Manfred, brainstormer of the Golden at-Bat and pitiless executioner in 2021 of 40 of Minor League Baseball’s 160 teams, does not seep into the grassroots, but the evidence is as blunt as a fastball to the face.
10. At The American Spectator, son David Simon explains the late Julian Simon’s “Theory of Effort” and how it manifested in the arid lands of Israel. From the article:
For many decades, indeed, poor immigrants and their children, particularly East Asian, Indian, and Jewish immigrants and their children, have moved up the economic ladder with dizzying speed.
Israel is tiny; it is about the same size as New Jersey. In the early years after independence, Israel was very poor. Much of its population consisted of penniless refugees, Jews from displaced persons camps in Europe who had survived or escaped the Holocaust or persecution by Arab governments. It had a water shortage, no significant wealth-creating natural resources, and, other than agriculture, only a little light industry.
Simon’s lower wealth factor, especially in Israel’s early decades of existence, would alone have encouraged outsized Israeli effort.
Simon’s greater potential gain factor, however, has always impelled Israel to exert world-leading effort.
11. At Christian History, Jennifer Woodruff Tait pays homage to Athanasius, champion of the Trinity and debunker of heresies. From the article:
Alexander, so prominent in the early Arian debates, died soon after the council—probably in 328—and his protégé, now roughly 30, was chosen unanimously as his successor as bishop of Alexandria, one of the most powerful and influential sees in the early church. The gifted and argumentative Athanasius would serve in this role off and on for the next 45 years until his death in 373. The off times incorporated five different banishments into exile by four different emperors who favored the Arians and Eusebians (and may also have found Athansius’s personality abrasive), adding up to a total of 17 years.
During his times of exile, Athanasius traveled, spreading the message of trinitarian orthodoxy. He also continued sending out what were known as “Easter Letters” or “Paschal Letters”—letters that the bishop of Alexandria customarily sent yearly after determining that year’s date of Easter astronomically, with assistance from the scholars of Alexandria. Naturally Athanasius snuck a great deal of advice and argumentation into these. He also wrote a number of theological and pastoral works, mostly while exiled. The most famous of these was the Life of Anthony (360), a biography of the great desert ascetic and a perennial bestseller (then and now).
12. At National Affairs, Mark Bauerlein argues that collegiate general-education needs reforming. From the essay:
The cafeteria-style approach outlined above is typical of Gen Ed requirements at modern universities. It usually involves two components. First, schools identify abstract, high-level categories of knowledge—”Aesthetics & Culture”; “Histories, Societies, Individuals”; or “Science & Technology in Society,” to borrow some examples from Harvard University. They then pile ample course selections under each one. This past fall, Harvard offered 37 course options in the “Histories, Societies, Individuals” line-up, many on boutique topics like colonialism in the Caribbean, Mexican food over the ages, and guns in America. At Indiana University, the Arts and Humanities category alone offered 194 choices, including “The Art of the Comic Strip” and “LGBTQ+ Public Issues.” Schools call it “general” education, but in truth, it is highly specialized.
The problem isn’t just that many of these courses are devoted to overly niche or even unserious subjects; it’s that their sheer number ensures students will pass through college without acquiring any concept of shared tradition. There are no events all will have studied or works all will have considered, no common set of readings maintained and accepted as crucial to American or Western society. “No two of you will follow the same path,” UNC brags on its curriculum webpage. All of this leads to the dispiriting impression that the past isn’t all that important, that an American heritage of finer things and brilliant conceptions and courageous deeds doesn’t exist. The monuments aren’t so monumental, the creeds not so deserving of respect. A primary element of civic unity is lost.
Lucky 13. At The Free Press, Miriam Lancaster tells of how Canadian doctors, before offering her treatment, offered her euthanasia—for a back problem. From the piece:
The paramedics took one look at me and agreed the pain warranted a trip to Vancouver General Hospital. Moments after they wheeled me into the emergency ward, a young female doctor approached my bed. After running through the usual questions about what was hurting and how much, she said, as casually as one might offer a cup of tea: “Do you want MAID?”
She sounded eerily like the doctor who had offered it to my husband—as if she was reading from a script.
I said, as firmly as I could manage: “No, thank you.”
She heard my refusal, took one look at my daughter’s and sister’s faces, and swiftly changed the subject. The polite, distinctly Canadian tone of the exchange made the situation seem all the more absurd.
I was stunned. No one had even told me what was wrong with me. All I knew was that I was in tremendous pain and that a stranger had just suggested I might want to end my life.
Bonus. At Open Inquiry in Mental Health, Chloe Carmichael bemoans self-censorship by therapy clients, as ideology colors psychotherapy. From the analysis:
Fear of speaking up, rooted in social pressure, manifests in therapy in subtle but damaging ways. Clients describe withholding their opinions on sensitive topics, even from their therapists, for fear of judgment. Others share that they nod along in conversations where they feel uncomfortable, repressing discomfort to maintain social harmony. Over time, this pattern of self-silencing can erode self-efficacy and self-esteem.
Clinical research underscores the psychological toll of chronic self-silencing. For example, research on reflective verbalization suggests that articulating thoughts, even privately through journaling, can significantly enhance insight and problem solving. Conversely, habitual suppression of one’s views in social interactions can lead to emotional numbing and diminished self-efficacy. Research also shows that emotionally charged conversations—such as those involving politics, which are common sources of personal strain for many clients—can activate automatic emotional responses, making it harder to process information rationally. This helps to explain why many clients fear such discussions or freeze in moments of disagreement. The longer clients spend suppressing their true thoughts and emotions, the harder it becomes to locate and express them authentically.
Bonus. At National Review, in 1987, the late D. Keith Mano wrote a powerful column on the first Easter Week’s players and props. It has been a favorite. From the beginning of the piece:
There is a strange agency at work here. The Scripture might be haunted. That pitcher-bearer. This goodman. They spook me. Who are they, what special order of grace do they belong to? And, elsewhere, those men who surrender the colt “whereon yet never man sat.” Nameless, equivocal shapes. “Hey,” they shout, “why loose ye the colt?” The Lord has need of it, His disciples explain. Oh, well. In that case. Why didn’t you say so? Take our expensive animal. And has their free will been taken also? It is as if a casual, weird cast of accomplices inhabited Jerusalem. Men or suchlike who know, often better than fumbling Peter or over-literal Thomas, just how to ornament the Passion.
Were they perhaps made of some angelic stuff? I don’t think so: it is the Lord’s habit, thank God, to enlist men wherever convenient. He has an economical disposition. And Man was, after all, what this grand enterprise had been about from the first. But how then did Jesus, so to speak, make His room reservation in advance? Were these men sensitized by dreams? Did the Holy Spirit, foraging like a quartermaster sergeant, requisition their possessions through sign and vision? It is possible. The Lord had been known to trouble sleep. “And being warned of God in a dream . . .” Was there fitfulness before the Passover?
For the Good of the Cause
Uno. At Philanthropy Daily, Therese Biegel admits how a giving deadline prompted her to fork over the donation. Read it here.
Department of Bad Jokes
Q: What is the opposite of Easter?
A: Wester.
A Dios
The tomb was empty. Were the Roman guards so incompetent that the body of the dead blasphemer could have been snuck out? Or was this another in a series of things mysterious, miraculous, frightening? There was an earthquake, an eclipse, and darkness at noon. Oh: And the dead raised, per Matthew: “. . . tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.” This moment is not one to be met by indifference and nonchalance.
It is still not.
A Blessed Easter and Passover to All,
Jack Fowler, who invites correspondence at jfowler@amphil.com.
