In the winter of 52 BCE, as Caesar pressed his campaign to crush the Gallic coalition, the Roman legions found themselves facing disaster near the town of Alesia—the stronghold of the chieftain Vercingetorix1. Two armies boxed Rome in Inside the city walls: Vercingetorix and his starving defenders Outside the walls: a massive Gallic relief force … Continue reading De Flexibilitate: The Legend of Severus Arellius Gumbus
Category: Society
Essays examining how social structures, norms, and shared expectations shape collective life. Topics often explore the unwritten rules that govern communities.
Brave Knights for Cruel Enemies
C. S. Lewis once wrote: “Since it is so likely that (children) will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker.” I find myself returning to that line out of a growing unease that we may be making … Continue reading Brave Knights for Cruel Enemies
The Mail Still Runs. The System Does Not.
Every December, the explanation arrives on schedule. Delays are blamed on an “unprecedented” surge in holiday packages, as though Christmas were a rogue variable rather than a fixed feature of the calendar. The language is familiar—seasonal strain, temporary disruption, short-term overload. Reassuring in tone, managerial in posture. The problem is not that these explanations are … Continue reading The Mail Still Runs. The System Does Not.
Brother Jonathan And Uncle Sam: Two Faces Of American Identity
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
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
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
