-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Archives
Categories
Meta
Author Archives: dwescott
Progress and poverty. The ideal of having enough – being comfortable
Progress and poverty. The ideal of having enough – being comfortable – used to hold sway, along with a belief that wealth increased poverty. No more… more»…more»…
Posted in Essays and Opinion
Leave a comment
Hair-bobbing, heart-breaking Edna St. Vincent Millay
Hair-bobbing, heart-breaking Edna St. Vincent Millay conquered Greenwich Village with her looks and lyrics. The greatest female poet since Sappho?… more»
Posted in Essays and Opinion
Leave a comment
Two cheers for paternalism. We are too fat, too in debt,
Two cheers for paternalism. We are too fat, too in debt, and too terrible at planning for the future to avoid rethinking Mill’s harm principle… more»
Posted in New Books
Leave a comment
When did “bureaucracy” become a dirty word?
When did “bureaucracy” become a dirty word? Once it stood for the end of privilege and the rise of merit and rights. What went wrong?… more»
Posted in New Books
Leave a comment
Why cursive?
Why cursive? Done well, it’s the pinnacle of elegant handwriting, a mark of sophistication. Too bad it’s rarely done well anymore… more»
Posted in Articles of Note
Leave a comment
The American character was forged by barbarism
The American character was forged by barbarism, torture, murder, and massacre. Bernard Bailyn is ankle-deep in the bloody details … more»
Posted in Articles of Note
Leave a comment
Dexedrine, champagne, Antigone. Few actresses seemed to have
Dexedrine, champagne, Antigone. Few actresses seemed to have less need for serious reading, yet Marilyn Monroe was all for the intellectual life… more»
Posted in Essays and Opinion
Leave a comment
War poets. The literary fate of those who survived World War
War poets. The literary fate of those who survived World War I was little different from those who died in it. Consider Sassoon and Blunden… more»
Posted in New Books
Leave a comment
There was a time when college presidents
There was a time when college presidents did more than raise funds. They expressed views – resolute, edgy – about contentious issues… more»
Posted in Articles of Note
Leave a comment
Gone is the rigor of Montaigne. Today’s essayists are yarn-spinners,
Gone is the rigor of Montaigne. Today’s essayists are yarn-spinners, tall-tale tellers, humorists parading as autobiographers… more»
Posted in Essays and Opinion
Leave a comment