Tag Archives: politics

Kaplan on Order

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

Continuing on, adding some thoughts here about “The Tragic Mind” by Robert D. Kaplan, the issue of order continues to weigh on me. When I was a fellow at the George W. Bush Institute, and before, I was part of … Continue reading →

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Robert D. Kaplan’s “The Tragic Mind”

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

This short book is one of Kaplan’s most personal. Kaplan has been a foreign correspondent and has written many books about the struggles of politics under the tyranny of geography in faraway places. Unlike most of his other works, “The … Continue reading →

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On Conservative Reaction

Posted on January 24, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

It’s hard for me to imagine the excitement people must have felt when they first got their hands on John Locke’s “First and Second Treatises of Government”. Emerging from tyranny, the wickedness of a vile nobility, absolute monarchy, the horrible … Continue reading →

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Ozymandias (Harry Melling in Buster Scruggs)

Posted on January 16, 2023 by Joel D. Hirst

I have become haunted by this poem by Percy Shelley, particularly as read by Harry Melling in “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”. Melling is a genius, probably the only good thing to come out of the Harry Potter series. Shelley … Continue reading →

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Our Age of Un-Ideas

Posted on September 21, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

Listening to the United Nations General Assembly today, which I do out of habit not interest, was uninspiring. The Iranians blasted ‘hegemony’ (whatever that means); the Argentines complained about how the U.S. treats Cuba (and demanded the Falkland Islands back). … Continue reading →

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The Approaching Event

Posted on September 6, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

The Dogon, who live in cliff dwellings nestled into the sides of a mountain range in central Mali have star charts that show Serius B, the white dwarf star that accompanies Serius A. If you climb the cliff-side (I have) … Continue reading →

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More on Money

Posted on September 2, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

One (of the many) issues which caused me to quit social media (Facebook and Twitter specifically) was the monetization of ‘interactions’ – likes and shares and retweets. People with many ‘followers’, generating lots of ‘views’ or ‘engagements’ were able to … Continue reading →

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On Prophets and MISRULE

Posted on August 11, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

I have been feeling these days more often like my namesake, that grand Hebrew prophet of old seated atop a mountain decrying the wickedness around and imploring people to seek God. They never do, seek God. Wickedness is way too … Continue reading →

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Hic Sunt Dracones

Posted on June 12, 2022 by Joel D. Hirst

I often entertain conversations with colleagues one or two generations older than I about past adventures. Hitchhiking from Johannesburg to Cairo, bussing through northern Uganda and Southern Sudan and to Juba catching a boat to Khartoum and upward downriver. St. … Continue reading →

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Goodreads Year In Review – 2021

Posted on December 19, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

I like to look back upon the books I read during a given year. A sense of accomplishment, a feeling that I’ve learned something. To remember things that moved me; where I was or what I was doing. Sitting in … Continue reading →

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