Category: Viewpoints

‘First Do No Harm’—A Viable Principle for Politics?

Commentary A couple of months ago, I wrote about various ways that both existing policies and proposed policies hurt a certain number of American citizens. Sometimes the hurt was by design; other times, an unavoidable consequence of the policy. Question: Are government policies that make citizens worse off justifiable? Is it naïve to hope for…


How Do We Stop ESG and DEI From Destroying Capitalism?

Commentary In America, if environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) mandates are accepted in their current form, capitalism will most likely be destroyed. The widespread acceptance of ESG and DEI by American business giants is as concerning as it is eye-rolling. Large corporations routinely play games to attract stock buyers’…


​​How Should We Humans Cope With AI?

Commentary Artificial intelligence (AI) keeps surging to the fore, commanding more and more attention. I wouldn’t be surprised if, by year-end (if not already), it’s one of the 10 most common topics covered by the media. The most elementary question some people ask about AI is, is AI good? Perhaps here we should remember Shakespeare’s…


After Dobbs: Our Work Is Cut Out for Us

June 24 marks one year since the Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that states have the right to protect the lives of their unborn citizens. In the year since that tremendous victory, we’ve seen real, measurable progress toward creating a true culture of life—and we have also seen just how…


California Budget Deal Numbers Don’t Add Up

Commentary The budget deal hammered out June 27 by the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom achieved its major purpose: Getting him through the current budget cycle until next year’s Democratic presidential primaries. Of course, that may not matter. President Biden might take one of those rejuvenating potions they advertise for seniors on late-night TV, while…


Western Australia Grabbing Farmer’s Properties, Thwarting Food Production

Commentary The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act comes into effect on July 1 in Western Australia (WA). Premier Roger Cook has ruled out any delay in what has been broadly regarded as a piece of legislation that puts the state “to a grinding halt and strangles much-needed industry, housing construction, and agricultural output.” The legislation was…


Is Western Australia’s Heritage Law Going to Thwart Food Production

Commentary The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act comes into effect on July 1 in Western Australia (WA). Premier Roger Cook has ruled out any delay in what has been broadly regarded as a piece of legislation that puts the state “to a grinding halt and strangles much-needed industry, housing construction, and agricultural output.” The legislation was…


Why We Should Not Be Diverted by the Wagner Comic Opera

Commentary Military mutinies vary in nature and scope, but they can provide stimulus or course correction for the forces that suffer from them. Moscow carefully managed the brief mutiny (June 23–25) of its Wagner Group of contractor military fighters in Ukraine and had been working to bring to a head Wagner’s quasi-independent status. The path…


Peter Menzies: Intolerance for Contrary Opinions Is Pushing Canada Closer to the Future Orwell Predicted

Commentary The Canadian government’s campaign for complete control over what you can hear, see, and say is rolling like a platoon of tanks across what once were the wide open spaces of the internet. It’s not enough that its Online Streaming Act puts all audio and visual content under the sweeping Sauron-like eye of the…


Bruce Pardy: The Four Doctrines of the Apocalypse: Critical Theory and Our Compromised Institutions

Commentary The following is an excerpt by Bruce Pardy from “The 1867 Project: Why Canada Should be Cherished—Not Cancelled,” a new book of essays by 20 Canadian critical thinkers edited by Aristotle Foundation president Mark Milke. Modern Western civilization grew out of the Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries. The ascendancy of reason in…