Tag Archives: Socialism

Night – by Elie Wiesel

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Joel D. Hirst

“No, not in the twentieth century,” was the flippant answer of the Jews of Sighet in Transylvania when told of the ongoing holocaust by the Nazi German Government. “Not in the 20th century.” The century when I was born. Three … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review | Tagged | 3 Comments

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 →

Posted in Book Review, Liberty | Tagged , | 5 Comments

The Suicide of California

Posted on September 26, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

Civilizations fail, and then they fall. That is the natural order of things. They fail because their ideas buckle; their discipline withers away; their common culture becomes brittle – an adhesive which no longer binds. Then they fall, a crash … Continue reading →

Posted in America | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Stalin, the NYT and the Holodomor

Posted on July 25, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

Governments are not moral. Organizations of any kind are not moral entities. They exist as a group of like-minded people coming together to advance their vision. Perhaps it’s a company, seeking to provide a service, increase sales and lead to … Continue reading →

Posted in International Affairs, Movie Review, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

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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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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Those Slaveries Old and New

Posted on September 18, 2019 by Joel D. Hirst

There’s an odd sort of current running through western progressive movements these days. Maybe one-hundred fifty years ago it would have been called a specter. It might be better summarized as a “revenge project”, as Michael Anton writes. But revenge … Continue reading →

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To Talk of Many Things… (Vol. #5 – Unalienable Rights and Nouveau Marxists)

Posted on July 17, 2019 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!” There is a case to be made by philosophers and historians that the greatest … Continue reading →

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“Auxilio…” Help – The Cry of Venezuela

Posted on July 5, 2019 by Joel D. Hirst

“Auxilio…” Help me. The word was barely audible, a whisper in a crowded courtroom. The only word uttered by the defendant; his last word before he fell. Captain Rafael Acosta, arrested by the dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela for … Continue reading →

Posted in Liberty, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments