Before the advent of systematized law, there was no class of lawyers, professional legal literature or official judiciary. Law consisted of primitive rules embedded in society, religion and folk customs. Not even the Romans, famous for their legal codes, had developed a formal system of law and concepts. It was only in the late eleventh … Read more
The state of law today gives testimony to a general disregard for many of its basic precepts. This can be seen in the case of governors and attorney generals who refused to enforce laws as in the case of same-sex “marriage.” There are activist judges who strike down laws based upon spurious reasoning and faulty … Read more
When social norms are lost, all society suffers as can be seen from a quote from British statesman Edmund Burke: “When ancient opinions and rules of life are taken away, the loss cannot possibly be estimated. From that moment we have no compass to govern us; nor can we know distinctly to what port we … Read more
There is something wrong with the way we deal with our problems these days. We used to have leaders. Now it seems every crisis must be addressed by some massive law, in which every possibility of error can be foreseen; every detail regulated. It is as if to say, let the government solve our all … Read more
The planned holding of a Satanic Black Mass in the Civic Center, a public building in Oklahoma City, on September 21, represents more than just an exercise of “freedom.” It is a highly symbolic act that signals the end and breakdown of a consensus. Recently a similar event was planned at Harvard, and failed after … Read more
Anyone who has the illusion that the Chinese Communist Party has adopted capitalism would do well to look at exactly how the Chinese economy is run. While it is true that the Chinese state no longer runs everything directly, it does use the West and its economic mechanisms to perpetuate itself and pursue its goals. … Read more
If there is anything that characterizes modern architecture, it is its denial of locality and culture. Modern architects proclaim their freedom from traditional restraint by putting up their eccentric structures wherever they wish. They tend to disregard many of the cultural elements of the people nearby. Traditionally, architecture was the legitimate expression of a people … Read more
Swiss-born architect Charles-Édouard Le Corbusier (1887-1965) famously said of houses—that they were “machines for living in.” We might say of such modern architects that they are “machines that design machines…”
The need for private property is hardly a mystery. From time immemorial, property has existed and can be justified by simple common sense. Aristotle gives four such reasons that can be applied to both his times and our own. We quote from economic historian Odd Langholm who summarizes these four reasons: (1) If property … Read more
In his book, The Horizontal Society, Lawrence Friedman list three ways modern media help create the impression of a mass culture. First, they create the impression that each person is an autonomous being living a life full of choices. Lawrence notes, “Almost every TV commercial, almost every program, carries this secret slogan.” Is Technology Ruining … Read more
