The Professional and the Superior Man

A long time ago, I watched a black-and-white movie about the French Foreign Legion in Algeria. The title escapes me, as does most of the plot, but I vividly remember one scene. A young recruit had snuck off to a local village to visit a girl he liked and was arrested for deserting his post.… Continue reading The Professional and the Superior Man

Nobody Knows It But Me

Long ago, I was an English teacher at a private high school in central California. It was a good, if demanding, job and unlike many of my colleagues, I seemed to manage occasional moments of non-misery in the workplace. In fact, the two years I spent working there taught me more about human nature than… Continue reading Nobody Knows It But Me

Spiritual Non-Conformity and Pain in a New Authoritarian Age

It's 4:30 AM as I begin to write this. I've already been up for an hour. I'm not sleeping that much these days. Over the last 48 hours, I've lost friends, given a lot of advice, gotten advice, been told off, and been accused of hypocrisy for taking a political stand while using the term… Continue reading Spiritual Non-Conformity and Pain in a New Authoritarian Age