The coffee had gone cold before I noticed. That happens sometimes when you’re reading the news. You start with the intention of catching up on
Category: republican Virtue
I’ve found myself lately in a curious loop of conversations. They begin politely enough. Someone raises a question — not even an argument, just a
Good morning. Most philosophies are beautiful. Very few are usable. That difference matters more than people like to admit. Western thought celebrates visionaries.Martyrs.Brilliant thinkers staring
On What Is Non-Negotiable There are moments in history when the language of rights becomes louder but less precise.Every faction invokes them. Every cause claims
On How a Republic Drifts There’s a bend in the old river where the stones shift every spring. The ice breaks, the water swells, and
Policing Free People Is Different from Ruling Subjects It is always the same image. Men in armor.Vehicles built for battle.Flash-bangs at the wrong address.Doors torn
There is a problem that appears every time human beings attempt to protect something fundamental. We try to define it. We write it down. We
Letter on Capitalism, Necessity, and the Line We Need to Draw Capitalism is a good engine. It is not a good religion. This distinction matters,
Every republic is born knowing something it will later forget. Power concentrates.Fear accelerates it.Violence follows when no other release exists. James Madison understood this. He
How Plato Taught Power to Lie There is a quiet idea at the root of most modern information failure. It is older than broadcast media.Older
Speech, Debate, and the Cowardice of Secrecy The Speech and Debate Clause was not written to protect Congress from the public.It was written to protect
— A Challenge, Not a Comfort — There’s a line that gets attributed to Khalil Gibran, though like most lines that endure, it may belong
Every civilization walks a tightrope. Lean too far toward comfort, and you grow soft.Lean too far toward strength, and you forget what the strength was
Letter on Courts, Crafts, and the Cost of Being Heard I want to begin with a confession, because confessions clarify motive. I have not lived
The Stoic Argument Against Money Hoarding I was oiling the hinge on the garden gate the other morning—one of those small chores that feels unnecessary
This article reflects the view of the Cernunnos Foundation and its founder, Robert Smith. The Blue Ribbon Team webzine endorses it fully. It is also
A Letter on Republican Liberty and the Discipline It Requires Introduction I have been accused, more than once, of being old-fashioned about freedom. That charge
On history, responsibility, and the last off-ramp There are moments in history when delay becomes a choice—and that choice writes a party’s name into the
I woke up to a windstorm with a typical bout of insomnia to find the hearing had been released. That is not a metaphor. It
There is no “Other” in a republican state. There is no idea more corrosive to the republican tradition—nor more hostile to the virtues it claims
& Happy Holidays from the Blue Ribbon Team A Christmas Note From All of Us at Cernunnos Foundation & Blue Ribbon Team As the year
There’s never a wrong day to watch the internet rediscover political theory, but this morning’s show leaned Marxist. A cluster of very confident posters were
Grammina used to say the Garden story wasn’t about snakes or shame or any of the usual Sunday-school furniture. “It’s about ease, child,” she’d mutter,
The trouble with freedom these days is not that we have too little of it, but that we have forgotten what it is made of.
Culture Finance and Banking Labor Miss Ordinary republican Virtue The Wright Way Thought Experiments
Three Views on Wealth
An Editorial Conversation from The Blue Ribbon Team Every so often the internet kicks up a little dust that tells a much bigger story than
Thanksgiving Edition- republican Virtue Thanksgiving mornings always have a particular kind of stillness to them—a pause in the national tempo, a collective breath the country
“A Republic, if you can keep it.” — Benjamin FranklinIn theory, a republic is a well-tuned mechanism. The many are represented in the House, the
Artificial Intelligence Culture Government Intellectual Property republican Virtue Thought Experiments
Innovation Isn’t Property
The Future Belongs to the Builders, Not the Gatekeepers On my workbench sits a rust-red vise, older than I am. It was forged in Ohio