Ken I have to say - bluntly - this online newsletter of yours is very likely one of the best things out there! I appreciate not only your thinking and your style of communicating on some of the most important topics of the day, but the clarity and objectivity that you present in your writing is just exceptional and nothing less.
The National Review is fine, and they deserve credit for not jumping on the Trump bandwagon as shamelessly as a lot of other traditionally conservative outlets did. I've just found myself having less appetite for politically biased content, for a few reasons.
1. I'm convinced that the dominance of partisan media in the Internet era has damaged our democracy and eroded our ability to address societal problems.
2. Left-right ideology is a luxury we can enjoy only when our democracy is healthy, which right now it's not. The usual conservative-liberal hurly-burly that outlets like the National Review specialize in is less urgent than unifying the country, reversing the slide toward authoritarianism, capitalizing on our shared values, and rebuilding faith in democratic institutions.
3. Partisan cultural warfare is so pervasive now that I don't need outlets like the National Review to keep me up to date on the latest political dust-up. That stuff has gone from wonky sideshow to 24-hour main event, and I can only take so much of it before fatigue sets in.
Becoming weary of political current events is a predictable outcome, and the fact that leftists own/control the overwhelming majority of "news" (propaganda) sources in the USA, make that a foregone conclusion. Wishing for "unity" is pie-in-the-sky, when facing the same people that are completely invested in tearing our Constitutional Republic apart. As far as "rebuilding faith in democratic institutions" ........ I'm sorry, we're light-years away from that, as a direct result of the destructive apparatus that got us here. How far we have fallen.
There's more to being politically aware than keeping track of the daily outrage cycle. In fact I've found that the folks who are most mired in hyperpartisanship tend to be the least informed about underlying issues like energy, immigration and foreign policy. Look at the anti-Israel protesters with a superficial understanding of the historical context of Israel- Palestine. Look at the MAGA folks who still think the 2020 election was stolen.
We share common ground on protecting the Constitution. The Constitution set up a lot of the institutions I'm talking about: fair courts, free speech, a free press, checks and balances, the federal apparatus (ie the dreaded Deep State) that enforces laws and protects us. You protect the Constitution by protecting the system it created.
The Government has just grown too big and intrusive. I think our Founders knew this was likely. When someone else, outside my family, circle of friends, or business, has the power to extract confiscatory levels of tax from me, dictate what type of automobile I will be able to buy, direct my hard earned assets after my death, ask me what my sexual orientation and pronoun preference is - as a required box on a form, or keep our children (via intimidation) from speaking their minds at public institutions of higher learning, penalize us for wanting to use air conditioners, gas stoves, of fly somewhere, when China and India are adding coal production at gigawatt scale by the week, or pass laws that make energy unreliable and cost prohibitive - I don’t want a discussion or dialog with those busy bodies, and I don’t wish them any hardship, I just want them to get out of my life.
Ken I have to say - bluntly - this online newsletter of yours is very likely one of the best things out there! I appreciate not only your thinking and your style of communicating on some of the most important topics of the day, but the clarity and objectivity that you present in your writing is just exceptional and nothing less.
The NR generally gives people a few free reads a month.
If that Andrew McCarthy piece doesn't work for you, try this link: https://archive.ph/kDMAO
The National Review is fine, and they deserve credit for not jumping on the Trump bandwagon as shamelessly as a lot of other traditionally conservative outlets did. I've just found myself having less appetite for politically biased content, for a few reasons.
1. I'm convinced that the dominance of partisan media in the Internet era has damaged our democracy and eroded our ability to address societal problems.
2. Left-right ideology is a luxury we can enjoy only when our democracy is healthy, which right now it's not. The usual conservative-liberal hurly-burly that outlets like the National Review specialize in is less urgent than unifying the country, reversing the slide toward authoritarianism, capitalizing on our shared values, and rebuilding faith in democratic institutions.
3. Partisan cultural warfare is so pervasive now that I don't need outlets like the National Review to keep me up to date on the latest political dust-up. That stuff has gone from wonky sideshow to 24-hour main event, and I can only take so much of it before fatigue sets in.
Becoming weary of political current events is a predictable outcome, and the fact that leftists own/control the overwhelming majority of "news" (propaganda) sources in the USA, make that a foregone conclusion. Wishing for "unity" is pie-in-the-sky, when facing the same people that are completely invested in tearing our Constitutional Republic apart. As far as "rebuilding faith in democratic institutions" ........ I'm sorry, we're light-years away from that, as a direct result of the destructive apparatus that got us here. How far we have fallen.
There's more to being politically aware than keeping track of the daily outrage cycle. In fact I've found that the folks who are most mired in hyperpartisanship tend to be the least informed about underlying issues like energy, immigration and foreign policy. Look at the anti-Israel protesters with a superficial understanding of the historical context of Israel- Palestine. Look at the MAGA folks who still think the 2020 election was stolen.
We share common ground on protecting the Constitution. The Constitution set up a lot of the institutions I'm talking about: fair courts, free speech, a free press, checks and balances, the federal apparatus (ie the dreaded Deep State) that enforces laws and protects us. You protect the Constitution by protecting the system it created.
The Government has just grown too big and intrusive. I think our Founders knew this was likely. When someone else, outside my family, circle of friends, or business, has the power to extract confiscatory levels of tax from me, dictate what type of automobile I will be able to buy, direct my hard earned assets after my death, ask me what my sexual orientation and pronoun preference is - as a required box on a form, or keep our children (via intimidation) from speaking their minds at public institutions of higher learning, penalize us for wanting to use air conditioners, gas stoves, of fly somewhere, when China and India are adding coal production at gigawatt scale by the week, or pass laws that make energy unreliable and cost prohibitive - I don’t want a discussion or dialog with those busy bodies, and I don’t wish them any hardship, I just want them to get out of my life.