Public Philosophy: Essays on Morality in Politics.

By Michael J. Sandel. Harvard University Press, 2005. 292 pgs.

Kwame Antony Appiah, in a piece for the NYT Mag designed to be the “it” article of January 2006, says that trade does change culture but it doesn’t erase it; exposure to technology and universal media content improves the good parts of life while discouraging the worst aspects of tradition.

I have some vague memory of a time when the idea of American conservatism had something to do with a suspicion of an omnipotent autocratic state. William Kristol, though, is doing his best to erase that bit of intellectual history. (via Eschaton)

Well, the grouches didn’t ruin it for us, did they? You get it from all sides around this time of the year—”Xmas has become too commercial, too materialistic, lost its spirituality, blah, blah, blah.” At the same time,of course, we also hear a lot of people urging us to be generous, give of ourselves, give to those who are in need, etc.

Ryan McMaken writes that the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights amendment to the Colorado has slowed the growth of government.

A Clever Tax Strategy May Backfire - New York Times is an impressive reporting job by Flloyd Norris. I can only vaguely understand this tax-avoidance strategy but, regardless, who could possibly symphathize with the hunters as opposed to the hunted?

The Strategy as Norris presents it: