Author: Redactor

Euripides

This is true liberty, when free-born men,
Having to advise the public, may speak free,
Which he who can, and will, deserves high praise;
Who neither can, nor will, may hold his peace:
What can be juster in a state than this?

Euripides, The Suppliant Women (c. 420-415 BC), as used by John Milton as epigraph to his Areopagitica (1644). A modern translation of this passage, and a few lines immediately preceding, by Frank William Jones, runs as follows:

Nothing . . .
Is worse for a city than an absolute ruler.
In earliest days, before the laws are common,
One man has power and makes the law his own:
Equality is not yet. With written laws,
People of small resources and the rich
Both have the same recourse to justice. Now
A man of means, if badly spoken of,
Will have no better standing than the weak;
And if the little man is right, he wins
Against the great. This is the call of freedom:
“what man has good advice to give the city,
And wishes to make it known?” He who responds
Gains glory; the reluctant hold their peace.
For the city, what can be more fair than that?

Today

C. S. Lewis

Irish-English medievalist, theologian, and novelist Clive Staples Lewis was born on November 29, 1898. Among his best known works are Out of the Silent Planet, The Problem of Pain, Miracles, and the “Narnia” fantasies for children. His retelling of the Psyche myth, Till We Have Faces, and political essays such as “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment” and The Abolition of Man, will almost certainly stand the test of time.

Thought

John Milton

. . . as good almost kill a Man as kill a good Book; who kills a Man kills a reasonable creature, Gods Image; but hee who destroyes a good Booke, kills reason it selfe, kills the Image of God, as it were in the eye. Many a man lives a burden to the Earth; but a good Booke is the pretious life-blood of a master spirit, imbalm’d and treasur’d up on purpose to a life beyond life.

John Milton, Areopagitica; A speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England (1644).

Today

Henry Hazlitt

In 1894, on November 28, economics journalist Henry Hazlitt was born. Halitt went on to write Economics in One Lesson, Time Will Run Back, and several books criticizing Keynesianism. He was the main proponent of the work of Ludwig von Mises and F.A. Hayek in America during the 1940s and 1950s.

Exactly one year earlier, women voted in a national election for the first time . . . in New Zealand. On the same date in 1917, the Estonian Provincial Assembly declared itself the sovereign power of Estonia. November 28 also marks the independence of Mauritania from France (1960), and East Timor from Portugal.

Thought

C. S. Lewis

Since it is so likely that children will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage.

C. S. Lewis, On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature (1966).

links

Townhall: That Man Is Dead

Post author By Redactor
Post date November 27, 2016
No Comments on Townhall: That Man Is Dead

Start carving the headstone, inscribe the death date: The dictator is dead. Long live his opposition. Bury the man in the ground. And click on over to Townhall for the obit, coming back here for more dirt:

Glenn Miller: When That Man is Dead and Gone
Lyrics Playground: When That Man is Dead and Gone
New York Times: Fidel Castro, Cuban Revolutionary Who Defied US, Dies at 90
Washington Post: Cuban dictator, one of the world’s most repressive leaders, dies at 90
BBC: Fidel Castro, Cuba’s leader of revolution, dies at 90
Bloomberg: Fidel Castro, Communist Former Leader of Cuba, Dies at 90
The Real Cuba: The Useful idiots
Human Events: Hollywood’s Mindless Love Affair with Castro
The Hill: Sanders Sanders defends past praise of Fidel Castro
New York Times: Dissident Accuses Cuba of Manipulating Fear of U.S. Invasion
Human Rights Watch: Fidel Castro’s Record of Repression
Common Sense: Crybaby
Common Sense: One-Party Socialism?

Today

Nobel Prizes

November 27, 1295, the first elected representatives from Lancashire were called to Westminster by King Edward I to attend what later became known as “The Model Parliament.”

On the same date in 1895, Alfred Nobel (pictured) signed his last will and testament, thereby establishing the Nobel Prizes.

by Paul Jacob video

Why Direct Democracy?

Last week, Paul attended an international conference on direct democracy. Listen and compare rationales:

If you speak Spanish, or are a monolingual English-speaking absurdist, you might enjoy this translated version.

Thought

John Milton

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.

John Milton, Areopagitica; A speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England (1644).

Today

A Grimké Birthday

November 26, 1792, saw the birth of Sarah Moore Grimké, American abolitionist and feminist. She was the elder sister of the equally famed Angelina Emily Grimké Weld.