Essays Archives

An artistic depiction of a person harvesting vegetables from a field for community supported agriculture.

Advocates of community supported agriculture believe their radical model addresses many of the problems that plague large-scale farming today.

Community Supported Agriculture Isn’t Just Another Way to Get Fresh Food

April 11, 2022April 11, 2022 11 min read Jared Spears Agriculture, Climate Change, Community, Localism

Advocates of community supported agriculture believe their radical model addresses many of the problems that plague large-scale farming today.

This Is Technopoly

October 28, 2021October 28, 2021 15 min read Nicholas McCay Politics, Technology

Embedded into every tool is an ideological bias, and unless we continually re-evaluate new technologies, we may end up within a technopoly.

Painting by Edvard Munch with a young ill woman seated, looking out a window during spring, accompanied by a woman providing her comfort.

("Spring" by Edvard Munch, 1889)

Should We Take Comfort in the Knowledge Others Have it Worse?

October 21, 2021October 21, 2021 21 min read Sam Woolfe Buddhism, Consolation, Schopenhauer, Stoicism, Suffering

While the phrase “It could be worse” can provide us comfort, it may lead to less effective and less ethical forms of consolation.

War and Peace is rooted in Tolstoy’s longing for the infinite and universal. Yet, it reveals our need to focus on the concrete and mundane.

("The Battle of Austerlitz" by François Gérard, 1810)

History Isn’t Made by Great Men

August 12, 2021December 27, 2021 14 min read Henriikka Hannula Essential Reading, History, Literature

War and Peace is rooted in Tolstoy’s longing for the infinite and universal. Yet, it reveals our need to focus on the concrete and mundane.

Garry Gergich is the true Stoic on Parks and Rec, exemplifying Stoicism.

Parks and Rec expounds a great deal upon the teachings of Stoicism, but it is Garry Gergich—not Ron Swanson—who embodies the Stoic ideals. (Image: NBC)

Garry Gergich the Stoic

June 28, 2021January 1, 2022 15 min read Matthew Downhour Ancient Wisdom, Friendship, Stoicism

Parks and Rec expounds a great deal upon the teachings of Stoicism, but it is Garry Gergich—not Ron Swanson—who embodies the Stoic ideals.

Sacred Consecrated Spaces Waiting Rooms Places Erraticus

(Martin Lostak)

Consecrated Waiting Rooms

April 19, 2021December 27, 2021 12 min read Derek Parsons Architecture, Emotional Well-being, Essential Reading

Whether we are religious or claim no sense of the spiritual, sacred spaces help us to better confront the transient nature of existence.

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