Category Archives: Liberty

To Be Burned Twice

Posted on November 13, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

“For, to be burned twice in one’s lifetime, is, after all, a rare distinction.” I recently finished reading Arthur Koestler’s two-part auto-biography, P1 “Arrow in the Blue” and P2 “The Invisible Writing”. Finished when he was only thirty-five years old … Continue reading →

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The Sadness of Hong Kong

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

“You need to visit Hong Kong” my parents would say. They were wont to go there; a waystop between the obsidian totalitarianism of Harbin and the nihilistic desperation of Nagasaki before heading into the ancient rotting darkness of Irian Jaya. … Continue reading →

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As 2020 Unravels, Grab a Book…

Posted on August 28, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

As this year unravels, as the stories of tragedy and mayhem stack themselves up one atop the other in the cementing pressure of misery which we will carry with us, oh probably forever, I was thinking about the last 15 … Continue reading →

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Born Defeated

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

“I want to tell you that you did not win, as you believe, because despite having been born defeated, I still dreamed.” And with those words I ended my first play. Because there is nothing wrong with being defeated, as … Continue reading →

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A Fight That Unites Us

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

It is amusing, and sad somehow to watch the continued desperate efforts of some to regain the hard-fought and rapidly-abandoned days of American Marxism through angry Twitter videos and fiery Facebook speeches repeating their tired (and now ignored) call to … Continue reading →

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The Day The Music Died (but only for a few…)

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

I have started this piece a dozen times, each time drawing my cursor back up to the top highlighting and deleting in order to start anew. Because how does one express relief, and not sound naïve? In our cynical world, … Continue reading →

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Environmentalism is for the wealthy…

Posted on February 22, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

The morning after the Friday terrorist attacks in Bamako, Mali I took my son to the little zoo for the last time. It was not bittersweet, only bitter; I knew everything was about to change – for myself and my … Continue reading →

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“What is Covetousness?” asked my little boy

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

Dinner, a bath, brush teeth, and into bed for a story. Children need structure, they need their rituals – they need to know what comes next; it gives them security. And the bedtime rituals are as old as childhood itself. … Continue reading →

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To Whom Do You Compare Yourself?

Posted on February 16, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

Do you ever ponder, you who rage in self-pity, against whom your measuring rod is fixed? When I was in Africa, one of the many times, I had a driver for my wife and my family. We had only one … Continue reading →

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Their Destruction Will Bring No Freedom…

Posted on February 14, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

I tested out my starter-wings of independence in the gloriously nihilistic ‘90s. I might not have known anything, but neither did anybody else; high school even back then not carrying out very well its primary function which is to convey … Continue reading →

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