Most people today have never heard of the Syntopicon. But when the Great Books of Western Civilization were compiled and published nearly 60 years ago, it was the crowning achievement. Covering nearly 3,000 years of Western thought, the Syntopicon contains over 163,000 references to every idea and topic within the Great Books. Compiling the … [Read more...]
Government Secrecy Kills Freedom – Oliver DeMille
September 25, 2013 by 5 Comments
It's one of the main plots in Hollywood movies and popular TV dramas. The government knows some secret information, but won’t share it because it might cause panic in the regular people. This is the justification for modern government secrecy, spying on its people, and even torture. In the name of security, apparently everything is okay for the … [Read more...]
When the Government Lies – Oliver DeMille
September 23, 2013 by 1 Comment
There's lots of talk right now about the people losing trust in government. The current wisdom seems concerned that this is a bad development, that the government can only continue to grow and expand if the people trust what it is doing. As Orrin Woodward and I recently wrote, the American founders thought the people should strongly mistrust … [Read more...]
Careers & Freedom, Part 2 – Oliver DeMille
September 20, 2013 by 2 Comments
Read Part 1 Here Most people in the modern world tend to see human history as a long progress from tribal societies to the Agrarian Revolutions that brought communities and cities and civilization, to the Industrial Revolution’s advanced technology, and now further progress into the Information Age. From this view, education and careers have … [Read more...]
Careers & Freedom, Part 1 – Oliver DeMille
September 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Certain people are more suited for freedom than others. As Jefferson taught, all of us are created equal and endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights. Still, all through history, eras of freedom are very rare. The reason for this is historically clear: The people never stay free when they leave their freedom to any group of elites; … [Read more...]
The Real Fall of Rome – Oliver DeMille
September 17, 2013 by 2 Comments
Why it Isn’t What Most People Think, and Why it is Essential Knowledge For All of Us When I finished reading Livy’s history of early Rome this summer, I was still excited about Roman history and went looking for other books on the topic. I found a lot of mediocre books and a few good ones. And also one great one! At the same time, I received a … [Read more...]
Freedom Versus Finances: The Dilemma of Common Citizens
September 13, 2013 by 1 Comment
A friend of mine sent me an email a few months back noting that he doesn’t feel like he’s lost his freedoms. "I feel free," he said. "I can do what I want, go where I choose, live as I decide." He said he trusted my passion about the loss of freedom, but wondered why he didn't feel the loss. This is a very smart friend, well-read in the … [Read more...]
“The Book of the Decade”: Resolved by Orrin Woodward
September 12, 2013 by 5 Comments
by Oliver DeMille What if there were an award for “The Book of the Decade”? It would celebrate the most important book of the past ten years, the one that could have made, and still could make, the most positive difference in the world. If there were such an award, I know what my pick would be. Some books deeply matter. They change their … [Read more...]
Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
September 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
He wasn’t the headliner. His remarks at the Lincoln Memorial were not even part of his prepared text. At the time, few in the press even commented on his speaking role. But Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech has become one of the most iconic orations in American history. Few understood at the time that King was poised to become one of … [Read more...]
How the Holocaust Will Be Repeated – Oliver DeMille
September 11, 2013 by 4 Comments
The Holocaust is a blight on human history, and when the West found out what really occurred under Hitler’s regime a whole generation vowed that they would never again let such a thing happen. Yet similar events occurred just a few years later in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. When freedom is lost, human beings abuse power to the extreme of … [Read more...]
