There’s a lot of appeal in the ideal of Zen-like contentment. True detachment, ability to be at peace in any situation, rest.

But it’s not quite right.

If followed to its end, it dissolves into nothingness. That’s weird, because the notion of following something to it’s end, or pursuing contentment is the opposite of being content. It demands recognition of what you are not yet, and an effort to reach it. It demands striving. You become what you practice. How could you, by striving your whole life, finally become one who never strives?

I think nothingness, or ever greater levels of detachment, are not the right goal. They may be useful salves to calm us along the journey, but they are not the end.

We are created to create. We are created to grow. We are created to progress. It is wired into us to build and make and love, as we are reflections of the God who built and made and loves us.

This requires discontentment. As Mises so clearly points out, to act at all requires dissatisfaction with the status quo.

But that need not be the same as anxiety, frustration, grumpiness, anger, or blind ambition.

Can we lay down our cares, surrender our stress, and overcome fear while still striving to be and do better?

The answer of course is yes, it is possible, and no, we have not reached it.

Imagine trying to explain to someone who’s never heard of them which is the left hand and which is right without pointing or touching.

The human body is (on the surface at least) symmetrical, and as such there is no way to define left and right.

Yet left and right are objective.

And they are also relative.

In order to communicate left and right, unless you are facing the same direction, you can’t appeal only to your own orientation, but have to put yourself into the eyes of the other person and indicate whether you mean their left or yours.

An indefinable concept which is both objective and relative sounds very problematic, likely to be the cause of much debate and confusion. But quite the opposite is true. There is no disagreement about left and right, everyone uses them every day, and the ability to coordinate around them is relied on for everything from open heart surgery to highway driving.

We educated types tend to think that anything important must be defined, and that to have harmony in the world, definitions must be agreed upon in conscious, explicit ways. Like all the things that matter should be written down in precise language and everyone sign their name next to it indicating they agree.

“If we can’t even agree on what things mean, and we can’t even define them, how can we ever have peace?”

Yet all around us, most of the things that maintain peace, order, cooperation, and value creation between humans are happening without definition or thought.

We all orient ourselves and others with left and right in low and high stakes situations, and no philosophers are needed to stop and ask for a definition, or demand we prove we know for sure which one is which.

Maybe we could use less argumentation and more interaction. Perhaps games, commerce, music, art, and worship with our fellow humans are doing the heavy lifting when it comes to societal harmony and efforts to come to agreement about terms, concepts, and definitions is doing the opposite.

Self knowledge and self honesty.

The two most important foundations for long-term success in anything. And a lot harder than they sound.

Self knowledge means figuring out who you really are, what really motivates you, what you excel at, what you suck at.

Self honesty means not lying to yourself about what you discover.

We have stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. These are necessary. We need to fit into a narrative. And they don’t have to be merely descriptive – they can be aspirational as well.

But they can’t be false. They have to be true, either currently, or in line with a possible trajectory. They can’t be contrary to who you are and what you want.

It’s hard enough to know ourselves. But harder still, if what we find is something not like what we wish or imagine, or what others approve of, is to be honest about it.

Self honesty doesn’t mean accepting or being OK with failings or shortcomings, it means being real about them and deciding what you want to do about it. Even if the answer is “nothing”.

A scoundrel who’s honest about being a scoundrel is preferable to a saint who is secretly a scoundrel.

The process of self-knowledge and self-honesty never ends, because we always change.

Keep at it.

Sports are a great civilizing force. They also provide an image and example of many human virtues in a way few things can.

Humans are tribal. We are competitive. These can be incredibly destructive forces if not channeled properly. Sports are a sort of simulated combat that does just that. They allow our warlike tendencies to play out peacefully.

Virtues like courage, hope, perseverance, loyalty, sacrifice, and cooperation are demonstrated through sports in a way even a child can understand. Their opposites are also demonstrated. The entire drama unfolds and lets us see truths about the human condition that would require lectures and syllogisms without the animating contest of sports.

It’s good to sometimes lose ourselves in the agony and the ecstasy of sports.

The biggest game since

I cannot remember when

Onward down the field

The speed with which manners and politeness have declined since tyrannical Covid rules is startling.

Panic and obedience to authority drove otherwise civilized people to behave like animals. Everyone feared and leered at fellow citizens.

Covid mania has passed. But the humanity that was sacrificed has not fully returned. Everywhere people are more boorish. Cutting in front of each other. Less eye contact. Fewer smiles.

The only way to deal with this is to try to be so polite and sunny as to thaw out those around you.

The most useful thing about the Austrian school of economics is the insistence on the fundamental unit of human action being the individual.

This sounds silly or tautological, but nearly every other approach to social sciences sneakily ignores this truth. Collective entities and aggregates are analyzed and theorized about, as if they act and individuals simply float along with theses actions taken by undefined blobs.

If “the government” outlaws something, what does that mean? Can “the government” sign a piece of legislation, pass down an order, seize my raw milk, issue me a fine, or put a gun in my face or throw me in a cage until I acquiesce?

“The government” has never sent me a tax bill. Only individual humans who work at the IRS have.

Don’t get me wrong. Methodological individualism does not deny the existence of esprit de corps, the madness than can seize a mob, or even metaphysical energies or entities that form or are formed by the collective actions, words, or emotions of many individuals.

But when it comes to understanding what is happening on a human level, we must stick to observable decisions and actions, which are always and everywhere made and taken or not taken by individuals.

Individualism is more than a methodology for good social science. Ethical or moral individualism is also crucial. It’s the only way to ensure we do not let ourselves off the hook.

“The culture” deserves neither credit or blame, though it is colloquially useful to speak as if it does at times. Only individuals do.

St. Augustine gave a wonderful reminder of this:

“Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.”

A long, relentless march of increasingly crazy leftist ideas has spurred an increasingly crazy rightist reaction.

The irony of perpetually online people LARPing as “trad” is sometimes funny and even has beneficial elements. Young people thinking about having families, being responsible, and focusing on basic values is a welcome development in a rudderless culture.

But it can quickly turn militant, politically and culturally. Nationalism, vengeance for past wrongs, or a focus on others being bad instead of making yourself good — these are dangerous to the individual soul and the world at large.

In the long term, I fear those reacting to “woke” culture more than I fear woke culture. The woke are deeply and profoundly lost. They are wounded, confused, and bitter. They need love and healing. Of course, they have great propensity to hurt others when given political power, and have done so. They shouldn’t have political power. But without that weapon to wield, they are more likely to change through compassion than reprimand. Love the sinner not the sin. (A very difficult pill to swallow, I admit).

The “trads” reacting to them are a different beast. Their anger is based on more logical, understandable things. They aren’t so crazy and without coherence. They are reacting to genuine evil, or at least genuine stupidity. In this sense, they are justified. But sometimes being “right” is more likely to lead you and others to hell than being wrong.

Again, without political power to wield, trad reactionaries have much to offer, even if they could use a little perspective and humility. But the weapon of the state is more dangerous and more powerful in their hands, because of the deceptive coherence of their cries for justice and retribution. It can quickly lead to strongmen and pitchfork mobs.

Pitch fork mobs are bad for everyone.

Not because monsters aren’t real. Monsters are very real, and they must not be given room to roam and destroy.

Pitchfork mobs are bad not because they chase out monsters, but because they create more monsters.

Someone tweeted a complaint yesterday about Docusign having 7,000 employees. The gist was something like, “What the heck!? Startups used to be about changing the world, now it’s just these big stupid SaaS companies doing nothing.”

I’m a big fan of discontentment and an urge to do more a better things. I love the call to pursue big crazy world changing things.

But something is lost if you can’t find a company like Docusign (or my preferred, Pandadoc) fascinating, valuable, and yes world changing.

If you’ve ever owned a business, you’ll immediately know the transformation of Docusign. Getting deals done on your phone in seconds, vs needing printers and paper and envelopes or scanners. Each instance of avoiding the old print and sign model is worth at least tens of dollars to me and I’m sure I’m not alone. Multiply tens of dollars by the dozens or hundreds of times such things need to be done and the millions of people who need to do them each year and it’s easy to see the tremendous value.

But it’s not just Docusign. The real power comes when you begin to see the wonder in every business.

As long as it’s not some bottom feeding corrupt leach of a company living off government handouts, credits, or phony contracts, every profitable company (and many a temporarily unprofitable company) is a thing of beauty.

Stop and think through all the people involved in the production, distribution, marketing, selling, and servicing. Think about what would make a buyer choose to voluntarily part with their money for the good or service and you begin to see the value creation happening. Value creation is the most progressive, civilizing force in the world. And it happens “not by the benevolence of the butcher, but his regard to his self-interest.”

How could you not be fascinated by this?!

“The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.” — G.K. Chesterton

It used to be that “city” and “civilization” were synonymous. The uncultured bumpkins lived in the country, while the men and women of culture lived in the city.

Times have changed.

You can still find plenty of bumpkins in the country. But you will also find many gentlemen farmers and ladies. You will find polite, philosophical, principled people of good taste. They are not the majority in rural areas, but they are there.

Meanwhile, in the city you are hard pressed to find anyone with even basic manners let alone depth of thought or principles. Cityfolk and most of their suburban neighbors have become cattle-like throngs. They mimic each other to the point of losing individuality, they behave like brutes, they have little to no perspective.

They may be “worldly wise” in that they’ve seen a mugging before, but they are oddly sheltered. They hardly seem to know other people – other worlds – exist.

Every time I go to a big city, especially in the last five years, I am aghast at the lack of civility. Even in the suburbs, the manic rat race dehumanizes.

These are, of course, sweeping generalizations. People of substance can be found anywhere I’m sure. But the striking thing is how different the overall impression is than the old assumptions about city vs country people.

These days, I feel furthest from humanity and civilization in a large cities.

It seems that there is a limit to the number of things a person can be concerned about. Perhaps the real saints are capable of concern for the entire world, but I am not among them and haven’t met anyone who seems to be.

Part of the maturation process is expanding the circle of things you are able to have concern for. Babies are concerned with food and clean diapers. Children also want friends and fun experiences. Teens want meaning. Young adults begin to be concerned for the welfare of others.

It’s a good thing for the scope of concern to widen. But there’s a sneaky little trick in it. We are still limited in what we can be concerned about. And it is natural and healthy to begin with things close to us and keep them at the forefront, even if we add on to that concern for a wider range of things.

If you are absorbed with concern for every bit of news or every new political squabble, you have less concern left for those around you.

Think about the times as a parent, when your kids needs you, but you are too absorbed in a trending Twitter battle to care.

The devil likes to sneak in under the guise of “being informed”, and, “doing something about it.” It’s easy to turn people into horrible friends and neighbors when they are too obsessed with being good citizens.

Your attention, your ability to get riled up, your concern – these are precious. Don’t give them away cheaply. Guard them. The things over which you have the most direct control and responsibility should get most of it. You may have enough left over for a handful of wider concerns – especially those you can impact more than they can impact you. After that, for the great majority of things vying for your concern, the best thing to do is either nothing or pray.

I want to believe

But I have been burned before

Could this be our year?

There’s a big flap going around about some university president not properly citing the papers of others in her own papers. People who don’t like her are making a big deal about it, and people who don’t like the people who don’t like her are looking for similar academic status crimes in the work and claims of these opponents.

This is only what I’ve gathered from a cursory glance, but it seems like the predictable ad absurdum that academia reduces to.

I’d be lying if I said I’m not a bit entertained by this. I think the status conferred by academia is for scoundrels and fools. I think the whole academic publishing world is a cowardly excuse to escape from doing real writing, real research, and real persuasion. I think citations are silly.

The descending spiral of nitpicking over paper prestige is both funny and inevitable. Live by the paper, die by the paper cut.

Published papers are the ultimate symbol to an academic that their work is Very Serious. The more publications in peer reviewed journals, the more Very Serious you are.

The best part about being Very Serious is that no one reads your work.

The average academic paper is read by something like six people. I’m not kidding, I’ve seen studies to prove it! (See what I did there).

And the odd thing about the current paper tiger fight is that no one seems to be talking about the actual ideas or arguments in these works, only whether they followed the proper citation rules or were “original”. It’s almost as if everyone involved knows the papers themselves are unimportant. It is, of course, Very Serious to commit a breech of paper protocol. Even (perhaps especially) when the paper itself is utterly unserious.

I doubt any of this will have the Very Serious consequences on the broader world that those involved imply. Hopefully it does remind a few normal people how silly academia really is.

As a kid, I never moved. My parents raised three kids in the house they bought before any of us were born, and didn’t sell it and move until we were all grown and living out of state for a number of years.

Since starting my own family, I’ve moved a lot. Somewhat for work, but mostly to find the best living situation for the family.

I struggle to know whether one approach is better.

Moving when you don’t feel you’ve got the best surroundings means you have a hard time putting down roots. Your local connections aren’t as deep. Your traditions are partially lost and new ones need to be created with each new city.

Sometimes the things you don’t like about where you live are up to you to change or adapt to. If the only option is to leave them, there are parts of the human experience you will miss. Digging in, overcoming, being persistent, seeing the fruits of long effort. It feels good to slowly turn your shack into a castle, like Robinson Crusoe.

Then again, staying in a place because you happened to be born there or placed there by some other circumstance can deaden your soul and close you off to adventure and flourishing.

Many people where I grew up operate with a sort of latent, background depression 24/7. Like fish unaware of water, they don’t even know they live in a gray cloud. Their concept of what’s possible is shrunken, their ambition and imagination atrophied, their sense of beauty put on a shelf only to be awakened on vacations or in movies.

Those who take the leap and move someplace more in line with what they want experience genuine wonder, and can hardly fathom why so few others leave. The exit is right there, but some kind of Stockholm Syndrome holds them.

I want my kids to have stability and roots. I also want them to know what’s possible and see the world as their oyster. The tension in these desires is ever-present.

I don’t think there is a generic answer to this. Each person has a different calling. Each is responsible to do the best they can for their family.

Like any aspect of parenting, it can feel overwhelming, like you are choosing your child’s fate forever. There is a danger in not taking this duty seriously enough, but there’s also a danger in taking it too seriously.

Maybe you grow up in the same town. Maybe you move a lot. A good person can lead a good life having grown up under either set of conditions.

For most of my life, technological advancement was believed and experienced to be a universal good.

Sure, you could find some weird pockets of luddite dissent, but the mainline view was that better tech made our lives better.

This is no longer the dominant belief. As far as experience, it’s a conundrum. Everyone benefits from tech advancements every day, yet people also feel a strong negative influence from the very tech they use to live and work.

One of the most common examples of this tortured state is the ubiquitous podcast conversation about how all of this social media and tech is destroying humanity, with an awkward caveat thrown in about how that very podcast conversation is only possible because of such tech.

Both views are true.

There is an ancient and persistent myth (in the true sense) of some lesser gods or fallen angels whispering the secrets of technology to humans before they are ready or able to use it well. It becomes a vehicle for darkness. Humans can’t properly wield it and they become its slave.

This is the tree in the Garden of Eden. It’s the fire of Prometheus.

When you get that dark mirror feeling that all these screens and social media feeds are somehow sucking your soul; lowering your vibration, feeding off your negative emotion, creating a false reality around you, pulling you away from a connecting to spiritual and physical truth, you are not wrong.

But that’s only half the story. If it ended there, we should be Gnostics, eschewing the material world altogether because it is corrupted with sin and darkness, hoping for some ethereal existence.

We shouldn’t, because the story doesn’t end there. The tree in the Garden of Eden becomes the Tree of Cavalry.

The cross is one of the most diabolical (literally) technologies imaginable. An instrument utterly optimized for human torture, suffering, public humiliation, shame, and death. A tool wielded by tyrants to cow the population into acquiescence. Stakes driven through hands and feet so that a body slowly asphyxiates on public display, naked and in horrific pain.

If ever a piece of technology was whispered into the inventors ear by a demonic muse, it was the cross.

Not only that, the Devil used it for his greatest act – his final blow to ward off any threat to his power over the kingdoms of earth. He used it to murder the only one who could defeat him and restore humanity to their divine rulership.

Can you think of a technology more evil and dangerous? A technology more to be feared and avoided? I cannot.

Yet the story of the redemption of humanity doesn’t avoid or evade this technology. It plunges directly into its dark depths. It uses it as the very means of our salvation. In the act of His death and resurrection, Jesus conquered the cross. He took it.

The cross is now a tool to fight against the very evil that created it. It is no longer a weapon of the enemy, but a weapon that terrifies the enemy. The symbol of the cross wards off the demons who inspired it.

If the cross can be redeemed, so can every technology.

This is the pattern. Technology is not bad. Humans are created to create; called to “fill the earth and subdue it”. We are inventive beings who seek progress and experimentation. That is God’s image in us.

Technology introduced in times and places where humans aren’t ready is dangerous, like giving a lighter to a toddler.

The answer is not to destroy lighters and revert to rubbing sticks together. That ship has already sailed anyway. The answer is to pray for protection and grow into the kind of beings who can properly wield a lighter.

The answer it to redeem technology.

Be aware of the dangers of technology, and our propensity to harm ourselves with it. Don’t be naive to its often sinister intentions or dark influences.

But do not fear it. Be shrewd as vipers and harmless as doves. He that is in your is greater than he who is in the world – and its technology.

You needn’t run away. You needn’t retreat. You needn’t reject the material because it is tainted. You can take part in the process of its redemption and the restoration of the whole earth to the Kingdom of God.