A spot more cultural history following up on my “80%” comment about British culture–in response to a line from Nigel Farage saying “everything in our country and culture is based on Judeo-Christian values.” Consider the education of future British leaders from the 1600s through the 1800s, the formative years for modern British culture. In modern […]
British culture as 80% Greco-Roman — another datum Read More »
Hugh Trevor-Roper was known for his biting polemical style. In a youthful essay he described Rousseau’s Confessions this way: “a lucid journal of a life so utterly degraded that it has been a bestseller in France ever since.“[1] Of course, Confessions has also sold well in the English-speaking world (I see at least eight editions
Double insult — Rousseau and the French Read More »
Power, imperialism, and justice in the US’s becoming a coast-to-coast nation. My podcast on Manifest Destiny:
Was Manifest Destiny Oppressive or Progressive? [Open College podcast] Read More »
A favorite quotation, from Abraham Cowley in the year 1688: “Gardening is one of the best-natured delights of all others, for a man to look about him, and see nothing but the effects and improvements of his own art and diligence; to be always gathering some fruits of it, and at the same time to
Rohlfs was the first European to cross Africa from the Mediterranean Sea southwards to the Gulf of Guinea. Much of north Africa was Islamic, and to pull off his dramatic feats of exploration Rohlfs learned Arabic, wore local dress, and had himself circumcised in order to pass as a Muslim. More on Rohlfs (1831-1896) at
One dedicated explorer — Gerhard Rohlfs Read More »
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)Speech to Women’s Suffrage Convention, Washington, D.C. (1868) I urge a sixteenth amendment, because ‘manhood suffrage,’ or a man’s government, is civil, religious, and social disorganization. The male element is a destructive force, stern, selfish, aggrandizing, loving war, violence, conquest, acquisition, breeding in the material and moral world alike discord, disorder, disease, and
Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s 1868 “sixteenth amendment” speech Read More »
Wisdom from the grave: “Friedrich Nietzsche’s grandmother had some private letters in her possession from the circle surrounding Goethe. These letters came into the possession of Nietzsche’s aunt and uncle—who destroyed them. The uncle’s reason was this: ‘The brutal revelation of private relations upset him deeply. He did not grant the public any right to
On the private affairs of public figures: Nietzsche’s uncle on Goethe Read More »
Filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 22 Questions: Should One be Cynical or Benevolent? | How Can I Find My Own Voice? | Who is Your Favorite Artist? | Why did Art become Ugly? | What is Postmodernism? | What is Art? | Is Ambition Good? | Is Capitalism the Most Moral System? | What