On humility, military tradition, and the things that outlast us I have always thought there is something to be said for knowing when to be quiet. It is a simple enough proposition, though one that seems to have fallen out of fashion. We live in a world that rewards commentary, celebrates personalities, and encourages nearly … Continue reading A Reminder at the Tomb
Category: Society
Essays examining how social structures, norms, and shared expectations shape collective life. Topics often explore the unwritten rules that govern communities.
The Puppets Still Dance
Some music ages like milk. Other music ages like iron. I am not entirely sure which quality I expected when I returned to Master of Puppets after all these years, but I suspect I did not expect to recognize myself in it. In 1986, when the album was released, I was ten years old and nowhere near … Continue reading The Puppets Still Dance
Three Paths Through the Same Question
For the past year this site has explored a number of overlapping themes—technology, trust, history, genealogy, and the strange ways information moves through human systems. As the archive grows, a clearer structure has started to emerge. Going forward, posts will generally follow a simple weekly rhythm. Technology and Trust Systems Sunday evenings will focus on … Continue reading Three Paths Through the Same Question
Credentialed and Unprepared: Systems, Persistence, and the Slow Education of a Practitioner
Thomas Sowell once wrote: “There have always been ignorant people, but they haven't always had college degrees to make them unaware of their ignorance. Some people imagine that they are well informed because they have memorized a whole galaxy of trendy dogmas and fashionable attitudes.1” I do not quote that comfortably. I teach at a … Continue reading Credentialed and Unprepared: Systems, Persistence, and the Slow Education of a Practitioner
Boundaries, Belonging, and the Meaning of Citizenship
The recent announcement that the Department of War will condition its support for Scouting America on the rollback of certain diversity initiatives has been framed as another chapter in the culture wars. Perhaps it is. But as I have watched the debate unfold, I have found myself less interested in the political skirmish and more … Continue reading Boundaries, Belonging, and the Meaning of Citizenship
What We Rename and What Remains
Names fascinate me because they promise clarity while quietly concealing continuity. A new label suggests a new reality, yet the older structure often remains intact beneath the paint. Watching institutions rename themselves feels a bit like standing on a riverbank; the surface moves quickly, but the current below keeps its direction. The renewed use of … Continue reading What We Rename and What Remains
When Xenos Becomes Polemios
If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all1. This essay began, as many reflections do, not with an argument but with a voice. While listening to the audiobook of Heroes, narrated by Sir Stephen Fry himself, I was struck by how insistently Greek myth returns to the theme of hospitality—its obligations, its violations, … Continue reading When Xenos Becomes Polemios
