Letters & Opinions

I was recently asked if there was a defining moment that dramatically accelerated and perhaps made permanent the chaos this nation is presently facing. My answer: the two weeks between March 16 and March 30, 2020.

America in the twenty-first century has been on an accelerating descent not unlike what befell ancient Rome. For some four centuries Rome’s Senate and constitution provided continuity which sustained the Roman Republic through various challenges.

I received a note from Melissa in San Bernardino. Her question was, “Why do I need a line editor? I have a spell check.” That is a question that needs to be answered, and Melissa isn’t aware of some of the rudiments of completing any manuscript.

To the editor: With all due respect to UCLA historian David N. Myers, who advocates for a “Marshall Plan” for the Palestinians, can we pump the brakes before we commit billions to rebuild the Gaza Strip? Within weeks of the destruction, I figured that somehow, some way, U.S. taxpayers would be on the hook in the aftermath.

Socrates would weep. The great philosopher of ancient Athens was among the first teachers of critical thinking, you might say, and he died for doing so. And now, college philosophy departments — along with the other humanities and the social sciences — are shrinking, with reduced fields of study, smaller teaching staffs and fewer courses.