True Believers by Randall Auxier To dangle at the end of a tether seems extreme. But these devout fellows don’t worry about the judgments of other people. What calls human beings away from comfort to freely chosen suffering can’t be fully explained. It’s for those who can discern a reality that exceeds our everyday…
The Chrysalis and the Dream by Randall Auxier This carving is female. Of course it is. But how do we know? If I knew that, I’d . . . I’d . . . what? Get the copyright? No, that would be wrong. Use the knowledge to my personal advantage? I hope I wouldn’t do…
Indian Givers by Randall Auxier When I was a kid, my schoolmates used the phrase “indian giver” as a slur against anyone who gave something away but then wanted it back. I probably said it myself. None of us knew any Indians and I don’t know where we got this phrase –probably from television.…
The Heart in the Dark by Randall Auxier A bleeding heart liberal. That’s what Richard Henry Pratt was. At this late date it doesn’t matter whether he believed “white civilization” was superior to other ways of life, or whether he just saw the inevitability of its march. Either way he stood on the advancing…
Culture Wars, Old and New by Randall Auxier I lived in Oklahoma for some years, and learned to be suspicious of pictures like this one. Friends there helped me begin to grasp the depths of my own unconscious racism. One day I was walking with a colleague and our Dean to the faculty lunchroom.…
Isn’t It Rich? by Randall Auxier This fellow stands out in a crowd. I’ll bet he wants it that way. Most of us would be unable to connect with him. Say, you and me are having coffee and he wanders into the Starbucks. Are we allowed to stare? Surely the answer is “yes, you…
My name is Hugh and I am a football junkie fan. I am fully aware that there is an overwhelming stench of corruption at the collegiate level and an alarming number of the players at both the pro and college levels are borderline felons — some of them over the borderline. I also know many…
Belly Up Boys! by Gary L. Herstein, Guest Blogger Let me tell you a story. Well, first, let me explain why I want to tell you a story. Science (for example) can give us a pretty compelling account about what and how things are, employing the tools of logical coherence and empirical adequacy.…
Extreme Virtue 11: The Land of the Free by Randall Auxier The stray apostrophe on this sign doesn’t surprise me. No one likes a grammar snob, but I don’t like this sign. It comes from “Goldwater country,” now world famous for its inhospitality. The meaning of “white” is a moving target, isn’t it? With…
A Giant Leap by Randall Auxier There was no internet, needless to say. That gave the US government a kind of control over images that we can barely imagine today. No one fully understood the power back then. I like watching the characters in Mad Men as they gradually discover what images can do…