Charles Darwin on Social Darwinism Richard Weikart, “A Recently Discovered Darwin Letter on Social Darwinism,” Isis 86 (1995): 609-611. For many decades, historians have debated whether Darwin was himself a social Darwinist, i.e., someone who believed that human beings were and should be subject to the same competitive forces acting on all other living things. The debate is sharpened by Read More ›
When Alexis de Tocqueville arrived in United States in 1831, he was struck by how Americans were “forever forming associations.” Tocqueville found especially noteworthy the myriad of civic associations that Americans organized for moral and educational purposes. Instead of looking to the government for help, publicly-spirited citizens sought to solve societal problems on their own. What Tocqueville may not have Read More ›
Not far from La Jolla, California, lies some of the vast undeveloped land left along the coast of fast-growing San Diego County. Pardee Construction, the Weyerhaeuser subsidiary that owns the central portion of the land, plans to turn it into a suburban neighborhood. But local environmental activists believe it should serve a more valuable purpose: The area forms a corridor Read More ›
For all of you who have been wringing your hands over Seattle’s supposed loss of its “soul,” the federal government may have an answer that’s almost too good to bear. By proposing to break up Microsoft, the Justice Department and 17 state attorneys general are offering to help the company’s hometown find at least temporary solutions to some of its Read More ›
At the recent Internet Law Symposium 95, sponsored by the Seattle-based Discovery Institute, noted technology author and pundit George Gilder stated that “[i]n the twenty-first century, all law will be Internet law.” The proof of this statement is the debate already taking place among lawyers, scholars, technologists, and Netizens about security, privilege, and confidentiality in cyberspace. It is common currency Read More ›
GOLIATH IN THE VALE of Elah roared his contempt at the weapons and zeal of David: “Do you think me a dog that you contest me with sticks and stones?” Bill Gates, the Goliath of software, sees himself similarly beset by zealous rivals with risible weapons. Entering his modest second-floor office on the edge of the Microsoft campus on a Read More ›
Many years ago, a young psychoanalyst approached The Master for guidance. Replied Mr. Freud directly: “Don’t try to save people. They don’t want to be saved.” Wise counsel for America, as Saddam Hussein continues his game of playing us like a yo-yo. For the issue involved here has come to transcend Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction and their locales du Read More ›
What do “Seinfeld” and the Clinton administration’s missile defense policies have in common? Obvious answer: Neither is about anything. It’s too late for Seinfeld. But the Boeing Company recently received a modest (by Beltway standards) contract to design yet another missile defense system. Boeing can deliver. But will success be welcome? Probably not. But then, success has never been welcome. Read More ›
Way back in 1980 (Long Time Passing), as Jimmy Carter staggered through the final days of an unsuccessful attempt to get his contract renewed, he announced that his daughter had told him her greatest fear was nuclear proliferation. The media guffawed, many wondering whether L’il Amy was old enough to spell nuclear proliferation, let alone fret over it. Given recent Read More ›
Defense intellectuals are a curious breed. Some, especially those who’ve never served in uniform, grow so infatuated with their theories that you just want to cut them off with: “Excuse me, which battalion did you say you were in?” Others, who have worn the suit, come to regard their own experiences as the standard of truth and limit of the Read More ›