Why Relationships May Outlast Hierarchies in a Changing World
Hierarchies and Human Connection For most of human history, societies have leaned heavily on hierarchy to keep order. From monarchs and generals to managers and mayors, people…
Social and Self-Help
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The Antichrist, the Katechon, and the Shape of Things to Come
When Peter Thiel starts talking about the Antichrist, it sounds at first like eccentric theology from a Silicon Valley billionaire with too much time on his hands.…
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Can Capitalism Ever Be Ethical?
Every so often, someone suggests that capitalism can be saved if we just give it a good scrubbing. Wash off the grime of corruption, ring it out,…
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From Neighbors to Corporations: How We Lost the Directness of Living
I sometimes think we’ve all ended up working for a sort of ghost. Not the rattling-chains, moaning-through-the-wall kind, but something maybe worse: a superior who doesn’t even…
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Could Your Neighborhood Survive on Social Capital Alone? Some Do.
I sometimes imagine what it would be like to live in one of those tiny Alaskan bush towns. Not the postcard version with moose sauntering down Main…
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Marcel Mauss’ “The Gift” – A Summary
Marcel Mauss’ The Gift manages to be both deeply academic and strangely intimate. Initially, it seems like an anthropologist’s survey of exotic rituals in far-off places; potlatches…
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The Weird Trick That Made Me Instantly More Liked (and Happier)
I have taken to playing an interesting sport, though I doubt anyone watching would recognize it as such. It requires no ball, no net, and not even…
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Why Great Leaders Don’t Walk Too Far Ahead
another rumination from a conversation with friends. When leading, one must carry both the vision of the horizon and the weight of those who walk beside. The…
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The Three Adjectives That Shape a Fulfilled Life
I was speaking with a friend not long ago, someone who spends his hours alongside me in the work we call charity. He told me that he…
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Solidarity, Not Charity
To give is not always to love. Too often, charity disguises itself as compassion while secretly nourishing the vanity of the giver. The poor, the hungry, the…