…[I]lluminating as though it is, the attempt to fit the United States into historical patterns of empires is ultimately misguided. The United States is not in transition from hegemony to empire. The world is in transition to new forms of political organization, whose outlines can be dimly perceived, but whose frontiers cannot yet be fixed.
Month: November 2006
Hot trend: portable turf.
New! – Chicagoboyz Discussion Forum
Not only does this blog have thoughtful, articulate contributors, it also has many thoughtful, articulate readers. But it’s impossible to invite every one of you to be a regular contributor. And not everyone wants to be a regular contributor, just as not everyone wants his own blog.
And while many readers enjoy commenting on our posts (which adds greatly to the quality of the blog, BTW), commenting on someone else’s work is not what everyone wants to do, at least not all of the time. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to start your own discussion, and it’s really nice to be able to do that in the company of people who share some of your interests and/or outlook.
So I created a discussion forum to complement this blog. Check it out and feel free to participate. (You have to register to post, but that’s painless to do and once you’re set up you can post at any time.) I also created a bunch of subforums that cover most of our blog’s hot topic areas, but it’s easy to add new forums as necessary — your suggestions are welcome. And I have begun to import book reviews from the blog into the books forum. Those reviews, mostly written by James McCormick and Lex, are among the best content that we’ve got and they deserve to be kept alive for discussion rather than allowed to disappear into the blog archives.
I hope that you will enjoy using the new forum. It is for everyone — current readers, commenters, lurkers and regular Chicago Boyz contributors alike. Because the forum runs on user-generated content it will succeed only to the extent that users like you want to participate. So please don’t hesitate to let me know (by email or post a message in the support forum) if you have any ideas for improvement. And if you want to discuss some topic from the blog or elsewhere, the best thing that you can do is open a new forum thread and have a go at it.
Thanks!
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving to one and all from this side of the Pond.
Happy Thanksgiving
Worked late last night. Tired. Wanted to do sleepin’, but made four pies instead. Stuffing tomorrow. I’d rather do it the night before, but the wall has been hit. The computer was between me and the arms of Morpheus, so this is the last stop.
Saying prayers with the kids, I asked them to thank God for various things. Before they went to bed we talked about the Pilgrims. I told them that we would not have liked everything about the Pilgrims. They would not have liked us, since we are Catholics, for one thing. But we had to respect their courage and their faith in God. They believed they were doing the right thing, worshipping God in their way, and they left everything civilization offered to go across a trackless desert of water, to a wilderness more remote than anything we can now imagine or experience. The Pilgrims were tough and serious people,and they knew how to say “no” — to themselves, to their own weakness, to the temptations of comfort over principle, to fear.
If we are ever put the test like they were, how strong are our own principles? Would we get on that ship? Would we have the spirit to kneel on the ground and thank God upon arriving at the edge of that sea-facing forest, where there was not a chair to sit in or a roof or a wall or a fireplace to warm your hands?
This country was founded by great people. Not perfect people, but people who had an ample supply of the most rock-solid virtues. Be grateful for them, and for what they started, and do your best to hand it on better than it was when you came along.
God bless my fellow ChicagoBoyz and Girlz, our readers, our friends and our enemies. Enjoy the day. Hug your parents, and your children. Have two pieces of pie, just not enormous pieces.
God bless America.