Uncle Sam is not your neighbor. He never was. He points, he commands, he recruits. He appears when taxes are due, when wars begin, when authority needs a face. For more than a century, Americans have treated this as natural — as if the republic itself could only be imagined as a stern, aging uncle … Continue reading Brother Jonathan And Uncle Sam: Two Faces Of American Identity
Category: Cultural Essays
Reflections on the customs, moral assumptions, and social habits that shape everyday life. These essays explore the traditions, virtues, and institutions that quietly organize society.
The Curious Case of the King of Mann — A Coda
In 2013, I wrote about David Drew Howe, the Maryland man who briefly stepped into the public eye by asserting a hereditary claim to the medieval title “King of Mann.” At the time, his story was circulating widely enough to merit attention: an American genealogical enthusiast announcing a royal lineage, a minor media stir, and … Continue reading The Curious Case of the King of Mann — A Coda
Better a Has-Been than a Never-Was
Image generated by ChatGPT The Bumper Sticker That Started It A quip I posted a while back popped up on a social media feed as a memory today, alongside a picture I’d had AI generate of a “has-been” and a “never-was.” The post referenced a minivan I’d pulled up behind at lunch, with a bumper … Continue reading Better a Has-Been than a Never-Was
Llandaff Cathedral: A Testament of Welsh Resilience
Llandaff Cathedral. Source: https://www.llandaffcathedral.org.uk Llandaff Cathedral is, in my mind, one of Wales’s most quietly compelling monuments — a place that tells its story not in a single grand flourish, but in layers of survival, damage, and intentional repair. It’s not just a building; it’s a chronicle of Welsh faith, politics, and the tenacity of … Continue reading Llandaff Cathedral: A Testament of Welsh Resilience
Facebook doesn’t care about your community: why local newspapers still matter
If you live in a small town like I do, you probably know exactly when the weekly paper arrives. In my case it comes once a week in the mail: the Northwest Alabamian. By the time it arrives, much of the information in it is technically “old news.” The same stories have often already appeared in … Continue reading Facebook doesn’t care about your community: why local newspapers still matter
The Intergalactic Presence of the Blevins Clan
Often on my commute I listen to audio books. I bounce between books on history and religion, but occasionally I'll listen to fiction. The fiction book I am currently listening to is Star Wars: Aftermath. I'm not here to write a book review, but to notice one passing reference that 99.999% of the world will … Continue reading The Intergalactic Presence of the Blevins Clan
The allure of fake orders of chivalry
Caveat Emptor: This is solely my opinion; take it with a grain of salt. Supposedly, the world we live in is full of equal people; surely we can see this when we look around. When I look around, unfortunately, this is not what I see. I see a world that is more akin to what we … Continue reading The allure of fake orders of chivalry
