The anti-polarizing effect of keeping one’s identity small.
Paul Graham’s advice to keep one’s identity small offers a way to approach political and religious disagreements with greater openness.
Culture
Properly understanding ISIS
Reflections on an Atlantic essay about ISIS, its religious ideology, and the contradictions of its opposition to modernity.
Why is the U.S. obsessed with home ownership?
A personal examination of the American preference for home ownership, its financial assumptions, and the appeal of renting.
The Art of Just Enough
Abandoning an elaborate house-building project led our family to reconsider possessions, consumption, and how little is enough.
Dandelions and innocence
A child’s delight in dandelions prompts a reflection on beauty, conformity, and the impulse to eradicate weeds.
Middle class economics and false dichotomies
Reflections on middle-class economic insecurity, stagnant wages, and the role of rising expectations for material comfort.
Private virtues v. public life
A case for clarifying and living by personal virtues when electoral politics cannot adequately represent individual values.
Commerce and discrimination
Reflections on Indiana’s religious freedom controversy and the principle that businesses should serve customers without discrimination.