We live in an age where there is a vast multitude of ways to entertain ourselves. Of the hundreds of channels on TV, most run programming twenty-four hours a day. Newspapers are delivered daily to households across the world; the internet never turns off. And of course, there are books. According to the American LibraryContinue reading “Books Connect the Human Race (Part 1 of 2)”
Tag Archives: Essay
You Can’t Run Away Forever: Confronting a Dark Past (Part 2 of 2)
Joseph Flora, a university professor, once included Shane in a course he conducted on American literature. He found the student’s aversion to the character of Shane interesting, and rationalized it with this statement: “At century’s end, in post-Vietnam America, believing in Shane’s kind of heroism and selflessness is hard, as is believing in a characterContinue reading “You Can’t Run Away Forever: Confronting a Dark Past (Part 2 of 2)”
You Can’t Run Away Forever: Confronting a Dark Past (Part 1 of 2)
Former president Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “We can draw lessons from the past, but we cannot live in it;” he would certainly know something about regretting the past. Among his many acts as President, he is remembered by most for escalating American involvement in the Vietnam War, from 16,000 American soldiers in 1963 toContinue reading “You Can’t Run Away Forever: Confronting a Dark Past (Part 1 of 2)”
Casting a Ballot with a Clear Conscience (Part 2 of 2)
However, no one said that being a sovereign voter would be easy. Indeed, when looking at the media, in reference to politics at least, it seems impossible to make a decision that is uninfluenced by other’s when one’s only resources are biased information. Left-leaning newspapers, right wing talk shows, radical blogs – in politics, everyoneContinue reading “Casting a Ballot with a Clear Conscience (Part 2 of 2)”
Experience and Actuality: Voltaire’s Criticism of Armchair Philosophers (Part 3 of 3)
Yet, after putting the full hypocrisy of humanity on display, after chastising the armchair philosophers of his time, Voltaire offers a path of hope to those who wish, much like Candide does, to find a way to go through this life and find enlightenment. At the end of Candide, the ramshackle group of wanderers haveContinue reading “Experience and Actuality: Voltaire’s Criticism of Armchair Philosophers (Part 3 of 3)”