A friend encouraged me to read The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis (1898–1963). Here follow passages from it. The book is very short. It was published in 1943. National Review ranked it 7th of the 100 Best Non-Fiction Books of the 20th century. The Intercollegiate Studies Institute ranked it 2nd of the best books of the 20th century. David Theroux has written a valuable essay showing that Lewis opposed the governmentalization of social affairs.

In four of the quotations, Lewis speaks of “the Tao.” By that he means something like the universe, including its moral order, or perhaps the notion of a morally ordered universe. In one quotation he speaks of “The Green Book,” meaning The Control of Language: A Critical Approach to Reading and Writing, by Alexander King and Martin Ketley, published in 1939; Lewis hated the book, which was used in British schools. Each quotation is followed by a page citation to the Signature Classics presentation of The Abolition of Man.

In case you missed it, President Biden signed a $1.5 trillion spending bill on March 15, 2022. But that price tag is not what makes the bill stand out. What makes the bill stand out is what it represents: the failure of Washington D.C. politicians to follow their own requirements for passing a budget.

Oscar producer Will Packer wanted to make the 94th Academy Awards memorable. A lot was riding on his ability to resuscitate the iconic awards show. But he certainly didn’t bargain for an unscripted, on-air physical assault by one of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful entertainers—actor, producer, and rapper Will Smith. In addition to tarnishing one of the most glamorous and feel-good events in pop culture, Smith’s unchecked rage will likely reverberate well beyond Hollywood.

President Biden has recently proposed a “billionaire tax” to make billionaires “pay their fair share” in taxes. Reading the fine print, the tax would actually apply to people whose net worth is greater than $100 million. Most people who would be subject to the tax are not billionaires.

As Evan Symon reports in the California Globe, Assemblyman Chris Ward, San Diego Democrat, has authored a bill to “massively tax house flippers and speculators who buy and sell a house within three years.” Assembly Bill 1771, the California Housing Speculation Act, would impose a 25 percent tax on all net capital gains from selling or exchanging homes or properties within three years of purchase.

One notable aspect of the war in Ukraine is that it is being fought entirely on Ukrainian soil. Russia has attacked Ukraine, but Ukraine has not launched a counter-attack. It’s easy to understand why. Ukraine is using 100% of its military capacity to defend itself, (and asking others to contribute to that capacity) while Russia is using only a limited amount of its capacity. Suppose Ukraine were to try to attack Russia. In that case, there is little doubt that Russia would substantially escalate its attack on Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Western nations stand on the sideline, with some economic sanctions and some supplies of military hardware, cautious of getting too involved, which might provoke a Russian escalation outside Ukraine’s boundaries.

During a recent press conference in Brussels, Joe Biden discussed a coming food shortage that is “gonna be real.” Biden said the sanctions he slapped on Russia would be “imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country as well.” Embattled Americans have grounds to be skeptical. 

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, has posted a TikTok video of “5 Golden State trailblazers to celebrate this Women’s History Month.” The background of her second choice, Angela Davis, may be unfamiliar to many Californians. 

As divisive as the political climate appears today, many people are likely to say that, yes, people who voted for candidates other than those they voted for made poor choices. People don’t think they made poor choices at the ballot box. They think other people did.

During a press conference in June 2020, presidential candidate Joe Biden pledged to appoint a Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court if the opportunity presented itself as president. At the time, and even today, few Americans understood the social experiment to which Biden committed the country.