Monthly Archives: November 2015

A Note on Ritual and Scale…

Posted on November 28, 2015 by bsixsmith

I fear that some people will think an impulse towards ritual is totalitarian. It might conjure up thoughts of mass rallies and parades. Few things could be further from the truth. The value of ritual lies in balancing the significance … Continue reading →

Posted in Ritual, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Glum Prophecies of the Lasch…

Posted on November 27, 2015 by bsixsmith

A nice historical coincidence is that John Updike shared a room at Harvard with Christopher Lasch. Characters in Updike’s novels desperately pursue their “psychic self-improvement” in promiscuity, acquisition and introspection. Lasch wrote of such baby boomers in his non-fiction works. … Continue reading →

Posted in Appreciations, Reviews, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Humanity’s Drug Addiction…

Posted on November 19, 2015 by bsixsmith

An old piece, made relevant by today’s news about the spread of antibiotic resistance. One of the great tragedies of our age is man’s insistence on blundering into avoidable fiascos. Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England, has been … Continue reading →

Posted in From the Archives, Health, Science | Leave a comment

What is Virtue Signalling?

Posted on November 6, 2015 by bsixsmith

“Virtue signalling” is a phrase more de riguer among political pundits than “YOLO” was among the youth. Apparently coined by James Bartholomew in the Spectator it has since been deployed by everyone from the Daily Mail‘s professional overexposer Liz Jones … Continue reading →

Posted in Behaviour, Ideology | 11 Comments