Evil Triumphant

To triumph fully, evil needs two victories, not one. The first victory happens when an evil deed is perpetrated; the second victory, when evil is returned. After the first victory, evil would die if the second victory did not infuse it with new life.
Miroslav Volf, The End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World

Rights vs Desires

…two essential conditions which are attached to all true rights; first, the capacity of individuals to claim and exercise the alleged right; second, the correspondent duty that is married to every right. If a man has a right to marry, some woman must have the duty of marrying him; if a man has a right [...]

On Remorse

Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment.  If you have behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address yourself to the task of behaving better next time.  On no account brood over your wrongdoing.  Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.
Aldous Huxley, [...]

Public Housing and Public Schools

The income limitations quite properly imposed for the occupancy of public housing at subsidized rentals have led to a very high density of “broken” families–in particular, divorced or widowed mothers with children. Children of broken families are especially likely to be “problem” children and a high concentration of such children is likely to increase [...]

Despotism Defined

A despotism may almost be defined as a tired democracy. As fatigue falls on a community, the citizens are less inclined for that eternal vigilance which has truly been called the price of liberty; and they prefer to arm only one single sentinel to watch the city while they sleep.
G.K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man

Competitive Compensation

With respect to teachers’ salaries, the major problem is not that they are too low on the average–they may well be too high on the average–but that they are too uniform and rigid.  Poor teachers are grossly overpaid and good teachers grossly underpaid.  Salary schedules tend to be uniform and determined far more by seniority, [...]