Category Archives: America

Our Democracy Needs To Go Back To The Basics

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Joel D. Hirst

In the 1980s the communist dictatorship of Daniel Ortega (Round #1, although Round #2 isn’t communist only purely despotic) would bring journalists from the USA and Europe to show them the revolution. They took them to a few neighborhoods where … Continue reading →

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Deaths of Despair

Posted on January 18, 2024 by Joel D. Hirst

My dad once told me, in passing, almost a decade ago now, that he had started getting more death announcements from old high-school buddies. Men who should have been living to about 75 or 78 were dying off in their … Continue reading →

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Late-Stage Liberalism

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

Late-stage liberalism is somewhat disenchanting. (We all know the signs. Not to belabor them, but our weird SyFy movies are all coming true, and we don’t like it one bit. Modernity replaced God with a superman, the wizard with the … Continue reading →

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From “The Cross and the Machine”

Posted on December 26, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

Somebody I correspond with sent me this remarkable article. I was going to try to write about it, but I can’t find the words. So I leave it with you, hoping you’ll take a few minutes — like I did … Continue reading →

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The Ideological Fanatics’ Literary Cul-De-Sac

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

I just stumbled upon an article by Alex Perez called “The Fight for the Future of Publishing”, which peaked my interest. All writers know that traditional publishing is completely and wholly bankrupt, but it’s interesting to read why from somebody … Continue reading →

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The Pax Americana is Over

Posted on November 11, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

It’s sort of dramatic when you see it all in one place. An article called “A World at War” in “Foreign Affairs” this month highlights the problem. Over the last decade wars have proliferated: from 33 to 55, lasting up … Continue reading →

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A Speech of Mine on Christian Charity

Posted on August 30, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

I came across this speech the other day that I delivered to a fundraiser in Chicago a decade ago. Back then I was a Fellow in Human Freedom at the George W. Bush Institute and working as an advisor to … Continue reading →

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“Vengeance” – A Movie Review

Posted on August 28, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

I rarely write movie reviews; there are so few that deserve it. Especially modern movies that are in essence political. Movies don’t stay with us like books do; but I have a feeling that this one will. “Vengeance” is part … Continue reading →

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The Birth of North American Protest Music

Posted on August 14, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

In Latin America there’s a genre of music called “Trova”, protest music. Played in the jungles and beside streams and on top of make-shift brick barrios self-engineered up the hills surrounding the neighborhoods and clubs of the elites. It comes … Continue reading →

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RIP GVDL

Posted on August 11, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

I learned today of the death, a few months back, of somebody I’d never met but who I’d corresponded with off and on for several years. He was an odd fellow, an old man by the time I met him, … Continue reading →

Posted in America, Honor | Tagged | 10 Comments