American Revolution.
Was the American Revolution a mistake? Part I. Was it based on false premises? Was the American Revolution a mistake? Part I. Was it based on false premises?
Was the American Revolution a mistake? Part II. Was it based on foolish expectations?Was the American Revolution a mistake? Part II. Was it based on foolish expectations?
Was the American Revolution a mistake? Part III. Would it have been better for the American colonists and would it be better for us today if the American Revolution had not happened? Was the American Revolution a mistake? Part III. Would it have been better for the American colonists and would it be better for us today if the Revolution had not happened?
Was the American Revolution a mistake? Part IV. How might things have been worse if the American Revolution had not happened? Was the American Revolution a mistake? Part IV. How might things have been worse if the Revolution had not happened?
The American Revolution through British Eyes. The American Revolution through British Eyes.
American Slavery.
Would the United States still have slavery if the South had not seceded in 1861? Part I. Shouldn’t the North have seceded from the Union instead of the South? Would the United States still have slavery if the South had not seceded in 1861? Part I. Shouldn’t the North have seceded from the Union instead of the South?
Would the United States still have slavery if the South had not seceded in 1861? Part II. Why did the South secede? Would the United States still have slavery if the South had not seceded in 1861? Part II. Why did the South secede?
Would the United States still have slavery if the South had not seceded in 1861? Part III. Conclusion: Very likely. Would the United States still have slavery if the South had not seceded in 1861? Part III. Conclusion: Very likely.
Education.
Bridging the Cultural Divide in the United States. Revisiting Jerome Bruner’s The Process of Education. Making the Strange Familiar and the Familiar Strange. Bridging the Cultural Divide in the United States. Revisiting Jerome Bruner’s “The Process of Education.” Making the Strange Familiar and the Familiar Strange.
Struggling to Raise the Norm: Essentialism, Progressivism and the Persistence of Common/Normal Schooling in America. Struggling to Raise the Norm: Essentialism, Progressivism and the Persistence of Common/Normal Schooling in America
Progressivism, Postmodernism and Republicanism: The Relevance of James Conant to Educational Theory Today. Progressivism, Postmodernism and Republicanism: The Relevance of James Conant to Educational Theory Today
Celebrating Holidays and Heroes: Rejoicing in the Ideal and Critiquing the Reality – Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas. Celebrating Holidays and Heroes: Rejoicing in the Ideal and Critiquing the Reality – Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas
Shakespeare.
Child’s Play. Irony in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Tragic Form/Comic Substance. What if they had lived? Child’s Play. Irony in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Tragic Form/Comic Substance. What if they had lived?
Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well. Two Jerks Get Each Other and Get What They Deserve. The Age of Trump and the Normalization of Bad Behavior. Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well. Two Jerks Get Each Other and Get What They Deserve. The Age of Trump and the Normalization of Bad Behavior.
Shakespeare’s Othello and the Idiocy of Idolatry. There’s no fool like an old fool, except maybe a young fool. And Hell hath no fury like an acolyte scorned. Shakespeare’s Othello and the Idiocy of Idolatry. There’s no fool like an old fool, except maybe a young fool. And Hell hath no fury like an acolyte scorned.
Shakespeare’s Henry VIII. The Bard Takes a Stand Against Absolutism. A Morality/Amorality Play for our Trumpian Times. Shakespeare’s Henry VIII. The Bard Takes a Stand Against Absolutism. A Morality/Amorality Play for our Trumpian Times.
Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Defending Established Institutions in Changing Times: How not to do it. Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Defending Established Institutions in Changing Times: How not to do it.
From Phallus to Phalanx. Is Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Coriolanus actually a Comedy? The End of a Heroic Age. From Phallus to Phalanx. Is Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Coriolanus actually a Comedy? The End of a Heroic Age.
The Comedy of Errors or the Errors of Comedy. Shakespeare does Saint Paul (the saint, not the city). What’s in your Conscience? The Comedy of Errors or the Errors of Comedy. Shakespeare does Saint Paul (the saint, not the city). What’s in your Conscience?
Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, or As You Will: A Masquerade of Fools, Fooling and Con(wo)men. Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, or As You Will. A Masquerade of Fools, Fooling and Con(wo)men.
Humility and Humiliation in Timon of Athens. Shakespeare does Schtick. Apemantus Searches for an Honest Man. Humility and Humiliation in Timon of Athens. Shakespeare does Schtick. Apemantus Searches for an Honest Man.
The Taming of a Schlemozzle: As You Like It as you like it. The Taming of a Schlemozzle: As You Like It as you like it.
Better Dead than Red: Hamlet and the Cold War against Catholicism in Elizabethan England. Better Dead than Red: Hamlet and the Cold War against Catholicism in Elizabethan England
Shakespeare, Shylock and The Merchant of Venice: Protestants, Catholics and the Jewish Question in Elizabethan England. Shakespeare, Shylock and The Merchant of Venice: Protestants, Catholics and the Jewish Question in Elizabethan England.
Drama.
An atheistic God. An agnostic afterlife. Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. A Thought Experiment. An atheistic God. An agnostic afterlife. Thornton Wilder’s Our Town. A Thought Experiment.
The Political Devolution of George Bernard Shaw. From Candida to Man and Superman to The Apple Cart. Unraveling a tangle of democracy, autocracy, evolution, and eugenics. The Political Devolution of George Bernard Shaw. From “Candida” to “Man and Superman” to “The Apple Cart.” Unraveling a tangle of democracy, autocracy, evolution, and eugenics.
Tom Stoppard’s Travesties. Why revolutions inevitably fail. Making a mockery of Lenin, Joyce and Tzara. Tom Stoppard’s Travesties. Why revolutions inevitably fail. Making a mockery of Lenin, Joyce and Tzara.
Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia. Old Left/New Left. Old New Left/Newer New Left. What goes around keeps coming around but are we getting anywhere? Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia. Old Left/New Left. Old New Left/Newer New Left. What goes around keeps coming around but are we getting anywhere?
Lawrence and Lee’s Inherit the Wind. Theism, Atheism, Agnosticism and Evolution. Fundamentalism, McCarthyism, Trumpism and Democracy. Lawrence and Lee’s “Inherit the Wind.” Theism, Atheism, Agnosticism and Evolution. Fundamentalism, McCarthyism, Trumpism and Democracy.
Hope for humanity in Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Just how dead are they? A fateful misstep need not be a fatal mistake. Hope for humanity in Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Just how dead are they? A fateful misstep need not be a fatal mistake.
Entropy, Negentropy and Chaos in Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia: Must We Face the Music or Can’t We Just Dance? Entropy, Negentropy and Chaos in Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia: Must We Face the Music or Can’t We Just Dance?
Mistranslation/Misinterpretation of Sartre’s Huis Clos as No Exit. Why don’t they leave when they get the chance? Is it Bad Faith or The Look? Mistranslation/Misinterpretation of Sartre’s Huis Clos as No Exit. Why don’t they leave when they get the chance? Is it Bad Faith or The Look?
Waiting for Godot: Why do we keep waiting? Hope Among the Hopeless. Waiting for Godot: Why do we keep waiting? Hope among the Hopeless.
Literature.
The relevance of John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath Today. A History of Hostility and Hysteria Toward Immigrants. Is culture a Smelting Pot, Melting Pot or Stew Pot? We have much to Fear from the Fear of Fear Itself. The relevance of John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath Today. A History of Hostility and Hysteria Toward Immigrants. Is culture a Smelting Pot, Melting Pot or Stew Pot? We have much to Fear from the Fear of Fear Itself.
James Thurber’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. What you don’t realize can hurt you. Humor and Moral Equivocality. James Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” What you don’t realize can hurt you. Humor and Moral Equivocality.
Socialism of the Heart in William Dean Howells’ “Annie Kilburn.” The Common Sense of Socialism at the turn of the 20th Century. Are we witnessing a revival today? Socialism of the Heart in William Dean Howells’ “Annie Kilburn.” The Common Sense of Socialism at the turn of the 20th Century. Are we witnessing a revival today?
Rereading Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle. Pre-Modern Moralist as Post-Modern Cynic. Resolving the Liar’s Paradox. Rereading Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle. Pre-Modern Moralist as Post-Modern Cynic. Resolving the Liar’s Paradox.
Racism, Sexism, Antisemitism. Dealing with Bigotry in Our Favorite Authors. Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Anthony Trollope’s Phineas Redux. Racism, Sexism, Antisemitism. Dealing with Bigotry in Our Favorite Authors. Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Anthony Trollope’s Phineas Redux.
Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Survivor’s Guilt and the Problem of Evil. A Plea for Caring, Caretaking, and Commitment. Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey. Survivor’s Guilt and the Problem of Evil. A Plea for Caring, Caretaking, and Commitment.
Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. A Big Fish and a Foolish Pride. Lions hunt in packs. Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.” A Big Fish and a Foolish Pride. Lions hunt in packs.
Albert Camus’ The Fall. Getting on and off a Guilt-Trip: Morality in an Amoral Universe. Albert Camus’ “The Fall.” Getting on and off a Guilt-Trip: Morality in an Amoral Universe.
Don’t let the bastards get you down. Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. A Medieval Mystery with a Metaphysical Moral for our Time. Don’t let the bastards get you down. Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. A Medieval Mystery with a Metaphysical Moral for our Time.
Idealism as Egoism in Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo. The Contradictions in a Depressive’s Dystopian World View. Things fall apart and apart and apart… Idealism as Egoism in Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo. The Contradictions in a Depressive’s Dystopian World View. Things fall apart and apart and apart…
It’s like trying to tell a stranger ‘bout rock ‘n roll. The Magic in The Magic Mountain. It’s like trying to tell a stranger ‘bout rock ‘n roll. The Magic in The Magic Mountain.
Resolving the Double-Entendres in Hard Times: Utopian Socialism in the Novels of Charles Dickens. Resolving the Double-Entendres in Hard Times: Utopian Socialism in the Novels of Charles Dickens
Strangers in an Estranged Land: A Reexamination of The Stranger and Review of The Meursault Investigation. Strangers in an Estranged Land: A Reexamination of The Stranger and Review of The Meursault Investigation.
Whalers, Whales and Morality Tales: Voyages of Discovery in Moby Dick. What’s with all those boring whale chapters? Whalers, Whales and Morality Tales: Voyages of Discovery in Moby Dick. What’s with all those boring whale chapters?
Revolt of the Minor Characters: A Suggestion for a Dickens Imitation. Revolt of the Minor Characters: A Suggestion for a Dickens Imitation
Children’s and Young Adult Literature.
Atheism, Anarchism and Relativism in Ursula K. Le Guin’s fantasy A Wizard of Earthsea. More and less than what you might think. Atheism, Anarchism and Relativism in Ursula K. Le Guin’s fantasy “A Wizard of Earthsea.” More and less than what you might think.
Individualism v. Individuality. Coming of Age in Young Adult Literature. Kathryn Laskey’s Dreams in the Golden Country and Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X. Individualism v. Individuality. Coming of Age in Young Adult Literature. Kathryn Laskey’s Dreams in the Golden Country and Elizabeth Acevedo’s The Poet X.
Social Darwinism in the stories of Robert Louis Stevenson. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Wrong Box, Treasure Island, and Kidnapped. Promoting knee-jerk right-wing reactions to social problems. Social Darwinism in the stories of Robert Louis Stevenson. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Wrong Box, Treasure Island, and Kidnapped. Promoting knee-jerk right-wing reactions to social problems.
J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Cynical Celebration of a Serial Killer Or Cautionary Tale. J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Cynical Celebration of a Serial Killer Or Cautionary Tale.
Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House in the Big Woods. Reactionary Intent/Progressive Effect. Context is Subtext/Subtext controls Content. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House in the Big Woods. Reactionary Intent/Progressive Effect. Context is Subtext/Subtext controls Content.
What to do about the Big Bad Wolf: Narrative Choices and the Moral of a Story. What to do about the Big Bad Wolf: Narrative Choices and the Moral of a Story
So what if Horton heard a Who? The Ethics of Hobbes, Hutcheson and Dr. Seuss in the Age of Trump. So what if Horton heard a Who? The Ethics of Hobbes, Hutcheson and Dr. Seuss in the Age of Trump.
The Will to Believe and The Wizard of Oz: Pragmatism along the Yellow Brick Road. The Will to Believe and The Wizard of Oz: Pragmatism along the Yellow Brick Road.
Art.
Gustave Caillebotte’s “Paris: A Rainy Day.” Seeing Art from Outside-In and Inside-Out. Sharing a Moment and a Message within a Picture. Gustave Caillebotte’s “Paris: A Rainy Day.” Seeing Art from Outside-In and Inside-Out. Sharing a Moment and a Message within a Picture.
Seurat’s La Grande Jatte: An Anarchist Meditation. Seurat’s La Grande Jatte: An Anarchist Meditation.
A brief note on Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.” Maybe it’s about the village .A brief note on Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.” Maybe it’s about the village.
Philosophy and Religion.
On Being Secular Jewish. What can that possibly mean? On Being Secular Jewish. What can that possibly mean?
The Golden Rule. Life, the Universe and Everything in Four Relatively Simple Sentences. The Golden Rule. Life, the Universe and Everything in Four Relatively Simple Sentences.
An Unorthodox View of Jewish History: Why are Jews still here at all and why aren’t there more of us? An Unorthodox View of Jewish History: Why are Jews still here at all and why aren’t there more of us?
Rethinking Descartes’ Cogito: “I think, therefore we are (not I am).” Part I: Resolving the Popeye Perplex. Rethinking Descartes’ Cogito: “I think, therefore we are (not I am).” Part I: Resolving the Popeye Perplex.
Rethinking Descartes’ Cogito: “I think, therefore we are (not I am).” Part II: The World According to Calvin and Hobbes. Rethinking Descartes’ Cogito: “I think, therefore we are (not I am).” Part II: The World According to Calvin and Hobbes.
Rethinking Descartes’ Cogito: “I think, therefore we are (not I am).” Part III: A Cross of Gold and the Golden Rule. Rethinking Descartes’ Cogito: “I think, therefore we are (not I am).” Part III: A Cross of Gold and the Golden Rule.
HAGGADAH: A Program for a Secular Passover Seder – A Ritual of Celebration, Contrition, and Rededication. HAGGADAH: A Program for a Secular Passover Seder. A Ritual of Celebration, Contrition, and Rededication.
Life is but a dream. Not. A note on the logic of reality. Going one-up on Bertrand Russell? Life is but a dream. Not. A note on the logic of reality. Going one-up on Bertrand Russell?
American History in the Making.
James Fenimore Cooper’s The Pioneers. MAGA Myths Versus the Reality of Early America. Natty Bumppo Makes a Mockery of the MAGA View of History .James Fenimore Cooper’s The Pioneers. MAGA Myths Versus the Reality of Early America. Natty Bumppo Makes a Mockery of the MAGA View of History.
A Note on Voter Suppression: Voting as a Privilege vs. Voting as a Right and a Duty. Republicans vs. Democrats; Conservatives vs. Liberals; Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Views of Society, Culture, and Economics. A Note on Voter Suppression: Voting as a Privilege vs. Voting as a Right and a Duty. Republicans vs. Democrats; Conservatives vs. Liberals; Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Views of Society, Culture, and Economics.
Dreamers and Misdemeanors: Amnesty and Honesty. Adverse Possession as the American Way of Life. Dreamers and Misdemeanors: Amnesty and Honesty. Adverse Possession as the American Way of Life.
Whatever happened to socialism? Axel Honneth tries to revive the socialist ideal in The Idea of Socialism. Is it an idea whose time has come, gone, and maybe come again? Maybe. Whatever happened to socialism? Axel Honneth tries to revive the socialist ideal in “The Idea of Socialism.” Is it an idea whose time has come, gone, and maybe come again? Maybe.
The Undoing Project and History as Choice: Reprogramming Your Intellect through Listening to Others. The Undoing Project and History as Choice: Reprogramming Your Intellect through Listening to Others.
Distrust in the Hinterlands: Bozo the Clown Promotes Fear and Hate, and It Ain’t Funny. Distrust in the Hinterlands: Bozo the Clown Promotes Fear and Hate, and It Ain’t Funny.
The Election of Donald Trump and the Law of Small Numbers: A Statistical Note on the Choice of Incompetent Presidents. The Election of Donald Trump and the Law of Small Numbers: A Statistical Note on the Choice of Incompetent Presidents.
False Equivalencies Equal Bad History and Bad Politics: Populism vs. Nativism/Sanders vs. Trump. False Equivalencies Equal Bad History and Bad Politics: Populism vs. Nativism/Sanders vs. Trump.
Do unto others before they do unto you: The Devolution of Conservatism from Burke to Trump and the Evolution of Pragmatic Liberalism from Madison to Obama. Do unto others before they do unto you: The Devolution of Conservatism from Burke to Trump And the Evolution of Pragmatic Liberalism from Madison to Obama.
Donald Trump and the Contours of American Decision-Making: Do we suffer from a collective thinking disorder? And what can we learn from Star Trek? Donald Trump and the Contours of American Decision-Making: Do we suffer from a collective thinking disorder? And what can we learn from Star Trek?
History as Choice and the Second Amendment: Would you want to keep a musket in your house? History as Choice and the Second Amendment: Would you want to keep a musket in your house?
Limiting the Sum of Lincoln’s “Some:” Democracy, Mobocracy and Majority Rule. Limiting the Sum of Lincoln’s “Some:” Democracy, Mobocracy and Majority Rule.
A Note on “History as Choice” Gone Wrong: Taking Choices Out of Context and Blaming the Victim. A Note on “History as Choice” Gone Wrong: Taking Choices Out of Context and Blaming the Victim.
Three Simple Reasons “Constitutional Originalism” is a Fraud and Merely a Pseudo-Legal Cover for a Radical Right-Wing Political Agenda. Three Simple Reasons “Constitutional Originalism” is a Fraud and Merely a Pseudo-Legal Cover for a Radical Right-Wing Political Agenda.
historyaschoice 