John Horvat II 
There is the mistaken impression that computers represent the future and that everyone, especially the very young, should become computer savvy as soon as possible. According to this view, failure to expose children to high technology handicaps their ability to function in the real world. However, in the real world, addiction to … Read more
I recently had the opportunity to guest lecture for an American Government class at a private Midwestern college. My friend who teaches the class invited me to share some insights about political theory. While I have taught classes to select groups of motivated students, I was ill prepared for the harrowing experience … Read more
As I traveled up the interstate toward Washington, D.C., my colleague suddenly realized that he had left some items behind in the hotel room where we had stayed. It was too late to return to the place, but he really wanted the items back. “Just ask!” was the motto on the hotel … Read more
The New Year is the time to make resolutions. The problem is that many people dismiss such resolutions as good intentions that are almost made to be broken. In the rush of things, no one has time to keep them. I disagree with such conclusions. My book, Return to Order: From a … Read more
Christmas should be a time of great joy, but oftentimes it isn’t. Perhaps the joy is lost in the season’s gaudy and frantic commercialization that has turned a great holy day into a secular holiday. There is also the loud revelry of winter parties present that tends to suffocate the memories of calm Christmases … Read more
Quite by accident, I came to frequent a jewelry store that would help me take care of those small problems with watches that can be so vexing. I was tired of department store attendants who could not replace batteries or change watch bands. It seemed that every time I took a watch … Read more
In face of a recession that never recedes, the assumption of a broad and growing prosperity for the middle class is in doubt. Gone are the heady days of the post-Cold War triumphalism of the nineties when optimistic observers believed that we might live forever in a kind of glorious consumerism. Instead, … Read more
As we gear up for the Thanksgiving holidays, many are preparing to engage in a strange new ritual that is crowding out the traditional turkey and pumpkin pie. The ritual, of course, is the extension of Black Friday shopping into Thanksgiving Day. It is a practice so shocking that we might as … Read more
The first warning was pretty clear. Back in May, a group of central bankers and financial analysts met together in Basel, Switzerland and issued a report on the dire state of the world economy. The 2014 annual report of the Bank of International Settlements then claimed that the present climate is as … Read more
The latest elections proved beyond a doubt that America is a conservative nation. Despite everything, conservative ideas still resonate strongly with many Americans and definitely have a future. But a simple victory is not enough. This is because the present victory does not explain everything. While conservatives just won in 2014, they … Read more