"The reduction of uncertainty is a matter to which too little attention is paid." Brian Lee Crowley, speaking to the Institute for Liberal Studies "Canadian Property Rights" Conference in Calgary October 17, 2014
In my latest National Post column I argue, despite generally opposing efforts to remake the world in our image, that in situations as bad as Syria our common humanity obliges us to act.
"Whacha doin'?" "Getting rich!"
"Really?"
"Yep. I’m writing a self-help book! There’s a huge market for this stuff. First, you convince people there’s something wrong with them. That’s easy because advertising has already conditioned people to feel insecure about their weight, looks, social status, sex appeal, and so on. Next, you convince them that the problem is not their fault and that they’re victims of larger forces. That’s easy, because it’s what people believe anyway. Nobody wants to be responsible for his own situation. Finally, you convince them that with your expert advice and encouragement, they can conquer their problem and be happy!"
"Ingenious. What problem will you help people solve?"
"Their addiction to self-help books! My book is called, 'Shut up and stop whining: How to do something with your life besides think about yourself.'"
"You should probably wait for the advance before you buy anything."
"The trouble is… if my program works, I won’t be able to write a sequel."
Hobbes and Calvin in Calvin and Hobbes June 1993
The audio-only version is here: [podcast title="Ask the Professor, April 10"]http://www.thejohnrobson.com/podcast/John2017/April/Ask_Professor_89.mp3[/podcast]
"[P]atience is a necessary ingredient of genius." Benjamin Disraeli, quoted by Burton Malkiel, A Random Walk Down Wall Street
"Always put the spiritual things first." G.K. Chesterton in "Topsy-Turvy" in Tremendous Trifles, quoted in Gilbert Magazine Vol. 10 #3 (December 2006)
On the eve of tomorrow's anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge it's good to see so much remembrance including the outstanding front portion of today's National Post. It was a pivotal Allied victory in the First World War partly for strategic reasons, partly for tactical ones and partly for psychological ones given how bleak things looked in the spring of 1917. It wasn't just important for Canada's sense of nationhood. The First World War, for all its horrors, was a necessary struggle for freedom and it was very important that the Allies won even if the victory was in significant measure squandered over the next two decades.
A reminder as the anniversary approaches that my documentary The Great War Remembered, which tries to explain and also to vindicate the war despite everything, is available free on YouTube.
"'Tasteful' does not begin to describe it." Dave Barry in The Ottawa Citizen June 19, 2004 [from my cherished compilation of hidden insults; the specific reference was competitors in the human-powered aircraft "Flugtag" competition in Miami whose contraption intentionally resembled a giant cow giving birth - I am not making that up]