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The Long View

The Long View 2007-03-06: Various Book Reviews, and That Cranky Spengler

I will admit that I went through an Ayn Rand phase when I was young. Here a repeat of the best thing I ever said on the subject: I like the late 90s idea that devotees of Ayn Rand might prove to be unusually resistant to the false religion of

The Long View 2007-03-02: Restoration; McCain; Solar Warming

I still remember reading this post, and the associated First Things article, because it was where I learned that Episcopalians of the early American era shunned public display of the cross. It was much later I learned that the cross wasn’t a symbol of Christians in general until about

The Long View: Twentieth Century The History of the World, 1901 to 2000 By J.M. Roberts

If I could pick a musical representation of the twentieth century, it might be VNV Nation’s album, Automatic. Ronan Harris has an ability to write lyrics that distill things to their essence, and the essence of this album is the twentieth century’s technological progress and scientific optimism. This

The Long View 2007-02-27: The Bush & Jesus Dynasties; D'Souza's Consistency; Big Easy Eloi

Dinesh D’Souza’s reputation hasn’t improved in the last twelve years, but I am intrigued by John’s comment here that now makes me think D’Souza was a populist ahead of the curve. The Bush & Jesus Dynasties; D'Souza's Consistency; Big Easy Eloi

The Long View 2007-02-23: Goracle Redux; War & Sovereignty; Dan Brown Copycat

This is an interesting idea. The serious long-term point here is that debellicized states (states that have lost the capacity to wage war) are renouncing a key feature of modern sovereignty: not the right to self-defense, but the right to be consulted about the use of force elsewhere. If anything,

The Long View 2007-02-22: Dry Jovians; Goracle; Endless Things

I too would like to find some way to colonize space, but damned if I know how to make it economically possible. Tech billionaires are making it possible to reach space more cheaply, but it still isn’t clear what people could do in orbit or on other astronomical bodies

The Long View 2007-02-20: The Deluge; School Stories; Hyperinflation; Murtha Plan

This blog post from 2007 is kind of eerie in how it could almost be current: * Cardinal Pell * Harry Potter * The implosion of Venezula Apparently nothing new ever happens. The Deluge; School Stories; Hyperinflation; Murtha Plan Disturbed by charges in the press of religious obscurantism in connection with global warming,