Confidence in human institutions is fading. Modernism is slowly losing its foothold as many human beings are seeing that institutions are unable to deliver the happiness they claim to provide. In fact, many are beginning to see the authoritarian nature of most human institutions as a limit to their pursuit of happiness, an encroachment on … [Read more...]
Archives for April 2010
Sunday Poem: Diary of an Old Soul by George MacDonald
April 25, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Explore the Sunday Poem archives here. Contribute your thoughts on the poem to the community by commenting below. Diary of an Old Soul George MacDonald (Excerpt, Read the Full Diary Here) How many helps thou giv'st to those who would learn! To some sore pain, to others a sinking heart; To some a weariness worse than any smart; To some a … [Read more...]
Changing Lanes, Part 5: Future Leaders
April 24, 2010 by 1 Comment
This is part 4 of a 5-part article. Read Part 1 Here Read Part 2 Here Read Part 3 Here Read Part 4 Here Thus far, I have proposed a specific solution to a specific problem. This trend towards federalism, and the opportunity it provides jurists and scholars to empower mediating entities gives me hope for a unified America. But I … [Read more...]
Changing Lanes, Part 4: The New Federalism
April 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment
This is part 4 of a 5-part article. Read Part 1 Here Read Part 2 Here Read Part 3 Here But there is hope. Some of the institutional safeguards compromised away, such as federalism and the Tenth Amendment, are making a comeback in modern Supreme Court jurisprudence. Supreme Court decisions over the last decade have again invoked the … [Read more...]
Changing Lanes, Part 3: The Historical, Jurisprudential Shift To Individualism
April 22, 2010 by 1 Comment
This is part 3 of a 5-part article. Read Part 1 Here Read Part 2 Here Mediating entities are the glue that holds society together. For Tocqueville, the “intellectual and moral associations” provided by these mediating entities were so important that “nothing . . . more deserve[d] attention.” How then did we get to the point in modern … [Read more...]
Changing Lanes, Part 2: Mediating Entities
April 21, 2010 by 2 Comments
This is part 2 of a 5-part article. Read Part 1 Here So what are "mediating entities" and why are they essential to a free society? The word mediate comes from the Latin mediare, which means “to be in the middle.” A mediator is one who stands in the middle of a dispute to help the parties find a common-ground resolution to the … [Read more...]
Changing Lanes: Circumventing Individualism Through Jurisprudential Policy, Part 1
April 20, 2010 by 4 Comments
This is part 1 of a 5-part article. The National Platform of the Libertarian Party defends the view that “all individuals have the right to exercise sole dominion over their own lives, and have the right to live in whatever manner they choose, so long as they do not forcibly interfere with the equal right of others to live in whatever manner … [Read more...]
What is Your Standard?
April 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Between the twelfth century and seventeenth centuries, Heraldic Standards were a symbolic form of communication both in courts and on the battlefield. It is no coincidence that the word standard -- a raised flag or banner -- contains the word "stand." It comes to us through Gothic standan (stand) and hardus (hard ) -- stand hard, or in … [Read more...]
Sunday Poem: My Kingdom by Louisa May Alcott
April 18, 2010 by 1 Comment
Explore the Sunday Poem archives here. Contribute your thoughts on the poem to the community by commenting below. My Kingdom Louisa May Alcott A little kingdom I possess where thoughts and feelings dwell, And very hard I find the task of governing it well; For passion tempts and troubles me, A wayward will misleads, And selfishness its … [Read more...]
The Anti-Federalists, Entrepreneurship, & the Future of Freedom, Part 6: Solutions
April 17, 2010 by 1 Comment
This is part 6 of a 6-part article. Click Here to Download a Printable Version of This Article Read Part 1 Here Read Part 2 Here Read Part 3 Here Read Part 4 Here Read Part 5 Here Solutions Old and New The anti-Federalist solutions for these problems may well have helped. They proposed that the people amend the Constitution, specifically in … [Read more...]
