In a speech to the Augustine College Summer Seminar in June (sorry, I’m a bit behind in my video editing) I argue that the calamities of the 20th century derived, fundamentally, from a rejection of the notion of truth.
“It is the curse of our epoch that the educated are uneducated, especially in the study of history – which is only the study of humanity. Their ignorance is less logical than the ignorance of the Dark Ages, because those ages filled the place of history with legends, which at least professed to deal with the first things, while we only fill it with news, which can only deal with the latest.”
G. K. Chesterton in Illustrated London News March 22, 1919, quoted in Gilbert Magazine April-May 2009
“Laissez faire has never been more than a slogan in defense of the proposition that every extension of state activity should be examined under a presumption of error.”
Aaron Director, quoted by Robert Bork in The Tempting of America
In my contribution to the National Post’s 20th anniversary section, I celebrate the freedom the paper has given its writers to express conservative opinions and respect the intelligence of our readers.
“It is a pleasant and consoling thought to think that our posterity will find sufficient entertainment in the contemplation of the enormous blunders that you are making at this moment. That will be a continuous source of laughter and joy to them.”
G.K. Chesterton in “Culture and the Coming Peril” in Gilbert Magazine Vol. 8 #5 (March-April 2005)