Tag Archives: Communism

The Silk Roads and Slavery

Posted on August 29, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

There was a thread running through “The Silk Roads: A New History of the World” that demands attention: the issue of slavery. Slavery as a constant. The empires of the past all became wealthy on the slave trade; and it … Continue reading →

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The Wilder Shores of Marx

Posted on August 28, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

In the twilight hours of the Soviet Union’s disastrous political and economic experiment Anthony Daniels (who now writes as Theodore Dalrymple) began a unique project. To travel to the scraggly peripheries of the USSR, to get a feel for life … Continue reading →

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The Great Gorky

Posted on July 17, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Do Russians love to suffer, or do they simply find ways to cope with the difficulties that tribe and geography have subjected them to? One cannot but entertain the idea that Russians, perhaps unwillingly but certainly sometimes enthusiastically, tend to … Continue reading →

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Hope Against Hope

Posted on March 5, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

I read “Hope Against Hope” while Vladimir Putin bombed Ukraine. It is the biography of Osip Mandelstam written by his wife Nadezhda. Osip was a Russian Jewish poet in the early 1900s who was killed by Stalin during the terror … Continue reading →

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On Balkan Ghosts

Posted on February 6, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Tanks smashing through malls, with McDonalds restaurant chains and GAP clothes outlets shattered by the forces of the explosion of shells. Refugees on the move, like we’re used to seeing in Africa – but this is not Africa. Snipers atop … Continue reading →

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To Talk of Many Things… (Vol. #12 – Chile)

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

Latin America never misses a chance to miss an opportunity. How do you take the most prosperous nation in the region and ruin it? It’s a story that is told over and over until the telling is really not even … Continue reading →

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To Talk of Many Things… (Vol. #10 – China)

Posted on November 28, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

But wait a bit,’ the Oysters cried,      Before we have our chat;For some of us are out of breath,      And all of us are fat! Today we obsess about China. Much like for the last twenty years, it was ISIS bombers in … Continue reading →

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The Struggle for the World

Posted on April 25, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

James Burnham was the most influential conservative intellectual you’ve probably never heard of. Oh, I suppose if you are of a previous generation, or if you are yourself (or strive to be) an intellectual, you probably have run across the … Continue reading →

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“I Want To Live” – by Shukshin

Posted on March 24, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

It is through the simple stories of writers like Vasily Shukshin that we get a glimpse behind the iron curtain into the world of everyday citizens of the Soviet Union. The struggles with poverty, the community frustrations, the attempts to … Continue reading →

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“Managerialism” in America

Posted on February 14, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

I think it’s safe to say that Karl Marx would not have recognized the mystical lands behind the iron curtain. I think it’s also fair to say that Adam Smith would not have recognized 1950s America. I do however believe … Continue reading →

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