Category Archives: Current Affairs

A friend recently told me: "If you think about it, everything that used to define a family is now gone. They just don’t make sense." I’m sure there are better articles on this than the one below, but it got me thinking….

Link: The Good Enough Family.

In some countries, people still subscribe to ideologies which promote the family as a pillar of society, the basic cell of the national organism, a hothouse in which to breed children for the army, and so on. These collective ideologies call for personal contributions and sacrifices. They have a strong emotional dimension and provide impetus to a host of behavior patterns.

But the emotional investment in today’s individualistic-capitalist ideologies is no smaller than it was in yesterday’s nationalistic ones. True, technological developments rendered past thinking obsolete and dysfunctional but did not quench Man’s thirst for guidance and a worldview.

Still, as technology evolved, it became more and more disruptive to the family. Increased mobility, a decentralization of information sources, the transfers of the traditional functions of the family to societal and private sector establishments, the increased incidence of interpersonal interactions, safer sex with lesser or no consequences – all fostered the disintegration of the traditional, extended and nuclear family.

If you have twin brothers, like I do, you can definitely appreciate this research! Actually, I don’t place a lot of stock in isolated data samples like this, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Link: Patterns: Research Finds Twins to Be the Slower Siblings – New York Times.

Researchers in Scotland have found that twins have substantially lower I.Q.’s than their singleton siblings, based on a sampling of more than 10,000 Scottish children born in the 1950’s.

This is hilarious. Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when Newman was charged for stealing mail and, right before he is dragged inside, he pleads to Kramer: "Kramer, tell the world my story."

Link: Justices Reject F.B.I. Translator’s Appeal on Termination – New York Times.

The justices also rejected an appeal of a sentence that a federal district judge in San Francisco issued to a man convicted of stealing from mailboxes. The judge, Vaughn R. Walker, ordered the man, Shawn Gementera, to stand in front of a Post Office building wearing a sandwich board with the inscription "I stole mail. This is my punishment."

The sentence, which Judge Walker said had "humiliation" as its purpose, followed a two-month jail sentence. Mr. Gementera was to stand for 100 hours, but Judge Walker reduced the sentence to 8 hours.

The big three magazines in the world of ideas are the Atlantic, Harpers, and the New Yorker. I read 2 out of 3 regularly, and the third as much as I can. (Harper’s is the weakest of the three.I love seeing these young guys take over. The new editor Hodge is 38 years old. The editor of the New Republic is also in his 30’s I think (and super impressive).

Link: Harper’s Set to Name Its Next Editor – New York Times.

Ross Douthat has a great post on feminism, the workplace, and childrearing. He links to articles in the LA Times, American Prospects, and elsewhere that I’ll read when I have time. If you’re interested in this stuff (I am, like when I argued that motherhood as defined by feminists is mutually exclusive with womanhood) go read Ross’ post. It’s great.