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by Bradley Birzer
Despite being associated with the “Democratic Party,” then and now, it is unclear whether Andrew Jackson offered much thought about the Democratic Party or whether he even considered it, or any party, a good thing for the country. When Jackson did speak or write on the issue of parties prior to 1830, he had nothing but contempt for them. Real republicans, he had argued frequently, decided matters by principle and circumstance, not party. Even during the 1828 election, some parties calling themselves “Democrats” opposed Jackson, while others that supported him went under a variety of names, such as the “People’s Ticket.” Jackson’s closest allies felt the same. In 1830, Davy Crockett wrote, “To General Jackson I am a firm and undeviating friend. I have fought under his command—and am proud to own that he has been my commander. I have loved him, and in the sincerity of my heart I say that I still love him.” However, the frontiersman and hero of the Alamo continued, “to be compelled to love every one who, for purposes of self-aggrandizement, pretends to rally around the ‘Jackson Standard,’ is what I never can submit to”...
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by Joseph Sobran
Deep political wisdom can be found in a writer who took very little interest in politics: C.S. Lewis, a scholar who achieved his greatest fame as a popular Christian writer. Lewis was sometimes laughably ignorant of current events. His friends were once amused to discover that he was under the impression that Tito, the Communist dictator of Yugoslavia, was the king of Greece. But the very distance he kept from politics enabled him to see large outlines invisible to those preoccupied with the daily news. During World War II, Lewis realized that both the Allies and the Axis were abandoning the traditional morality of the Christian West and indeed of all sane civilizations. The great principle of this morality is that certain acts are intrinsically right or wrong. In a gigantic war among gigantic states, Lewis saw that modern science was being used amorally on all sides to dehumanize and annihilate enemies. When peace came, the victorious states would feel released from moral restraints...
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by Russell Kirk
Not by force of arms are civilizations held together; but by the subtle threads of moral and intellectual principle. Whether our civilization really retains coherence enough for restoration to be possible may be made clear to all thinking men within a few years. If the fabric of our ancient society has declined to the condition of a mere heap of debris, all the tailors in the world cannot put it aright. The totalitarians say that the old order is a corpse, and that man and society must be fashioned afresh, in a grim fashion, upon a grim plan. Yet there are among us some men of intellectual power who hold that the wardrobe of our moral imagination is not yet altogether depleted. Last Autumn, I went to two gatherings of these moral and intellectual tailors, who are bent upon restoration of our civil social order. One group met at St. Moritz, in Switzerland: the tenth-anniversary meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society, composed principally of political economists. The other met at Bruges, in Belgium: the first Conference on North Atlantic Community, an assembly of political theorists, serious journalists, political leaders, and men of business...
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by Terez Rose
The violin concerto repertoire is so rich and satisfying, I’m embarrassed to admit that, prior to becoming an adult beginner on the violin in 2005, I was only familiar with a few of them. This, from a self-proclaimed classical music fanatic. Whoops. But maybe that’s you, too. Now, I know some of my readers are violin peeps and this list of top violin concertos will not produce any surprises, but I have a hunch there are plenty of you out there, more ballet-oriented, who are more familiar with piano repertoire. Or maybe you’re a newcomer to classical music in general. This is the list for you. One thing I should add. Most of these hail from the Romantic Era and beyond. You, therefore, won’t see works before 1806, before Beethoven’s opus burst forth, eras that would include concertos by Mozart (five of them, written in his late teens), Vivaldi (something like 230) Bach (two for solo violin, one for two violins). And still, there are more. That’s the fun thing about really getting to know the violin concerto repertoire, and the violin repertoire in general. There are always more treasures to discover...
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by Josh Herring
Education involves many necessary components: assessments, knowledge transfer, seating charts, carpool lines, food delivery systems. Without these, the task of education could not occur. And yet, they are not the totality. We human beings are more than numerically quantifiable beings, and education does more than can be officially measured. Part of the educator’s task involves shaping students into human beings with an appreciation for the important things, those things with no practical benefit yet of enormous value in themselves. For most of the school year, there is a clear reward system in place: hard work is rewarded by good grades. But this awards ceremony takes place after that grading incentive is completed. Instead of a reciprocal reward, the end-of-the-year awards ceremony offers an opportunity to recognize those who exemplify the values of the school, and in so doing summon the heart to a vision of possibility...
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