The Case For Civility In One Word
If you want to see American culture in its rawest form try working out at 24 Hour Fitness in the middle of the night. I’m back in the Bay Area for a few days trying to satellite into the $3500…
Amusing Ourselves To Death
Give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt – Juvenal, Roman poet The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the cause of the destruction multiplied with…
Morning In America: Growing Up In The 1980s
I was born on April 4, 1977 at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto, CA. My parents – Robert and Diane – were the first generation children of Jewish mother immigrants from Europe. My grandmother on my father’s side, Ethel, came…
Historical Development Of The Culture Of Nihilism
In a previous blog, I defined the culture of nihilism as follows: We live in what I have come to term “the culture of nihilism”. It is a culture characterized by self absorption, selfishness, lack of concern for others, incivility,…
In Defense Of Elon Musk
On any given day, Elon Musk might be the hero or the villain. Call it the duality of Musk – part of the reason he confounds both supporters and critics alike with achievements that amaze and comments that appall. –…
The Art Of Asshole Management
We live in what I have come to term “the culture of nihilism”. It is a culture characterized by self absorption, selfishness, lack of concern for others, incivility, rudeness and nastiness. Nietzsche prophesied it almost 150 years ago and his…
Surviving Contemporary America: A Guide For The Superior Man
This evening I was straddling two lanes at a red light as I had pulled out from a gas station at an intersection without enough space to get cleanly into the left lane. Apparently the driver behind me was incensed…
Economic Utopia And Spiritual Nihilism
Man does not live by bread alone – Matthew 4:4 The Bible says that man does live by bread alone. The cultural commentator Michael Novak once amended this as follows: Man does live by bread alone – but he needs…
How To Play Crime, Violence And The Decline Of America’s Great Cities
On the front page of Wednesday’s WSJ, Heather Gillers wrote a terrific article on the decline of America’s great cities (“Wall Street Sours On America’s Downtowns” [SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED]). As you can see in the charts above from the article, they…
Theft To Cost TGT $500 Million
Beyond macroeconomic challenges, we continue to contend with significant headwinds caused by inventory shrink, building on a worsening trend that emerged last year. While shrink can be driven by multiple factors, theft and organized retail crime are increasingly urgent issues…