Part 1 The Centrality of Custom and Religion Tocqueville strongly emphasizes the role of custom and religion in determining a society’s character. He notes that colonial America’s rather oppressive social laws (concerning issues such as adultery) did not reflect the will of a tyrant but of the people, with its particular social customs. Contrary to […]
Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America[1] is one of the great classics of the American political tradition, alongside the best writings of Thomas Jefferson or the Federalist Papers. This is no small achievement for a Frenchman. Indeed, Tocqueville’s magnum opus is, I believe, the only foreign-language book to be included in the Library of America […]
Noam Chomsky is one of the most influential intellectuals in the world and is indeed probably the single most influential Left-wing intellectual around today. His university, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, once boasted that Chomsky was the most-cited living person in the Arts and Humanities citation index between 1980 and 1992. Indeed, he was the […]
This article is aimed at the many Europeans who are emotionally invested in the European Union (you might be surprised at the number, especially among the young and educated). Whereas I emphatically support European cooperation and even a degree of European political unity, I want in good faith to argue here that this political construct […]
Project Syndicate is a prominent op-ed syndication service based in Prague. Its contributors are almost invariably prestigious, including “45 Nobel laureates, 111 heads of state,” and many other influential opinion leaders. I find Project Syndicate a very useful bellwether of global establishment opinion (on a par with The Economist). Project Syndicate’s influence is difficult to […]
“The power of the Jews even today, especially in America, should not be underestimated.” – Konrad Adenauer, 1965. A recurring theme in my writing is documenting the comments of mainstream European statesmen on Jewish power and influence. Given my background, this has primarily focused on French leaders. In general, as these figures approach retirement or […]
The Guardian has coverage of a new report by an NGO arguing that, while the bringing in of African and Muslim refugees into Europe will worsen budget deficits, this will be more than offset by rising GDP growth. The migrants, we are invited to believe, are quite the bargain: Refugees who arrived in Europe last […]
