Thursday, November 26, 2015

Mad Men: musings on character and capitalism

Dear Hannah,

People say that with great power comes great responsibility, but I've never heard anyone say that with great responsibility comes great power.  If you want an example of the former, I recommend watching Spider Man and paying attention to Peter Parker.  If you want an example of the latter, I recommend watching Mad Men and paying attention to Donald Draper.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

How to horrify your children

Dear Hannah,

Time Magazine asked Americans which of our practices would horrify our children, but I don't think Cindy Crawford (or even Time Magazine) understood the question.  Her answer was that our children would be horrified by our "otherness" -- the so-called inability to recognize our sameness.  Our children's answer will much more likely be that we failed to recognize which parts of us are too different to reconcile.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

"All life is precious" and other idiotic ideas

Dear Hannah,

There are only a couple of people I know who have taken a stand against the slogan all life is precious, and one of them is me.  The good news for me is that the other one appears to be God.

Sunday, November 8, 2015

On the greatness of Rome: a review of a review

Dear Hannah,

Anyone with any brains knows that in order for you to be successful in any endeavor, you have to have two things.  The first is circumstances good enough to make your endeavor possible, and the second is the ability to take advantage of those circumstances.

Friday, November 6, 2015

In defense of nativism

Dear Hannah,

In the world of demographics, there are very few kinds of people who can fairly be excused of nativism, and one of them is a person who's about to move somewhere else.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Sounders 'til I die

Dear Hannah,

Political bumperstickers may be more annoying than bumperstickers about sports, but in terms of insanity they lag very far behind them.  I've never understood why anyone would place a bumpersticker for or against gay marriage on the back of his car, because it implies it was the only opinion he thought was worth telling me.  Religious slogans I can understand.  If you've only got a single chance to deliver a message to the wayward Child of God behind you, it might be a good idea to remind them about Judgment Day -- or maybe, if you don't feel like going this far, about the fact that we're all about to die.  This would at the very least sober him up.