The Pursuit of Worldliness Ideas and essays on the state of humanity and other futile gestures by Barry Edelson
"Maybe I think too much for my own good
Some people say so Other people say no no The fact is You don't think as much as you could" — Paul Simon 
NowLet Me Tell You a StoryWe are a storytelling species. Or are we? (Read) August 21, 2024 The Breaking PointDespicable humans and the people who adore them. (Read) November 2, 2023 The Collective IllusionWhen everyone is responsible, no one is responsible. (Read) July 29, 2023 Elections Without VotersThose who do not vote have no advantage over those who cannot. (Read) February 27, 2023 An Abject FailureAmerica's crisis of liberty. (Read) July 9, 2022 The Moral InjuryThey also suffer wounds who stand and wait. (Read) March 14, 2022 All The King's Horses and All the King's MenThe never-ending calamity of 9/11. (Read) September 7, 2021 A Mob of OneA very special kind of cowardice is reserved for mobs. (Read) January 10, 2021 2020There Will Be No Reckoning HereThe America we thought we knew no longer exists, if it ever did. (Read) November 22, 2020 A Prison is Also a RefugeHistory teaches that racial progress is neither inevitable nor necessarily sustainable. (Read) August 17, 2020 UselessIt is painful to acknowledge, but most of the work that people do has no fundamental value. (Read) April 25, 2020 The Fever in Our MindsIt is not a virus that kills, but our bodies' response to it. The same holds true for civilizations. (Read) March 21, 2020 
The Last RefugeAre we at risk of losing the unique American character that was made by immigrants? (Read) February 20, 2020 The Wages of SpinThe narrative impulse is indifferent to the truth. (Read) January 18, 2020 2019The Chronic vs. the AcuteWhy do we overreact to alarming but rare risks while ignoring mundane but likelier ones? (Read) December 11, 2019 To Be HumanThe outrage sparked by a judge hugging a defendant says a lot about what is wrong with the country right now. (Read) October 15, 2019 ScarsThe Las Vegas shooting and the persistence of memory. (Read) July 5, 2019 
ChasmsA visit to natural wonders of the West reminds us of the impermanence of all things, natural and man-made. (Read) May 12, 2019 There's a Hole in the Middle of the WorldOf black holes, out there and right here. (Read) April 14, 2019 The Ignorance of the LambsA perpetual struggle against the know-nothings. (Read) March 5, 2019 There Will Always Be Some Sort of EnglandThe Brexit debacle and the inexorable decline of a once-mighty empire. (Read) February 2, 2019 The Extraordinary Ordinary LifeWhat can happen to society when fame becomes the primary goal for millions of people. (Read) January 12, 2019 2018The OtherWe have met the enemy and he is us. (Read) November 18, 2018 
The OasisHumanity's inclination to seek refuge, even when the security it provides is illusory, is rooted in our fundamental natures. (Read) August 8, 2018 Does It Matter Whose Child?Our claims to care for the well-being of children are belied by the reality of their frequent mistreatment. (Read) July 8, 2018 A Gilded CageSecurity must not be an end in itself. (Read) April 15, 2018 The Great MigrationSomething there is that doesn't love a migrant. (Read) February 24, 2018 2017Sad, Distracted YearThe end of civilization as we know it is not the end of civilization. (Read) December 29, 2017 The End of Labor As We Know ItAs automation claims more and more occupations, what are workers supposed to do? (Read) September 4, 2017 The Poisoned WellFor good and (mostly) ill, the Internet has returned mankind to its small town roots. (Read) July 29, 2017 A True HealerDr. John Sarno defied conventional medical wisdom, and cured many thousands of patients in the process. (Read) June 29, 2017 Images of Unknown JapanHow does the new Japan co-exist with the old Japan? (Read) April 30, 2017 To the Victim Go the SpoilsWe are living through yet another cycle of American paranoia, with white victimhood in the ascendant. (Read) March 21, 2017 2016Everything on the Internet Is a LieIf you pay nothing for news, you get what you pay for. (Read) December 31, 2016 
Divide, Decline and FallWe have much bigger problems than just the election. (Read) December 3, 2016 Cry, the Beloved CountryHow many Americans, after watching the presidential "debate" on Sunday, October 9, felt an urgent need to take a shower? (Read) October 10, 2016 The CoarseningOf all the legacies left by Muhammad Ali, his obnoxious attitude may prove the most lasting, and most harmful. (Read) June 12, 2016 Incoherence: A GuideSome wisdom from the ages, to help cope with the current political climate. (Read) June 5, 2016 The Last King of EducationThe appointment of a proven incompetent as education secretary has a lot to say about what's wrong with government. (Read) March 16, 2016 The War on Government: An UpdateThe dying towns of Maine, the water in Flint, and the Oregon standoff. (Read) January 24, 2016 The Fine PrintMiscellaneous legal maneuvers that may or may not be related. (Read) January 2, 2016 2015It's Everyone's War NowThose are our colors, too. (Read) November 23, 2015 The Day the (Classical) Music DiedIf no one wants to hear the music that's being written, how will classical music survive? (Read) April 25, 2015 The Struggle for CivilizationIf we don't have the stomach for war, we had better have the stomach for an unending stream of atrocities. (Read) February 22, 2015 2014
The Unknowable WorldOur limited perspective limits our understanding of everything, even our understanding of our own limitations. (Read) December 22, 2014 Nothing Happened, This TimeZero tolerance works for Ebola, but not much else. (Read) November 29, 2014 The Weather is NighWhy do weather forecasts turn us into blithering idiots? (Read) November 16, 2014 A Vote of No ConfidenceOur choices on Election Day weren't always so pitiful. (Read) November 2, 2014 Defenders of the FaithThe courts ought to reject most cases involving religious freedom. (Read) October 11, 2014 Go to Jail. Go Directly to Jail.Term limits are not enough. We need mandatory sentences for politicians. (Read) September 12, 2014 'On Ne Passe Pas'The unlearnable lessons of World War I. (Read) August 18, 2014 Preserve, Protect and DefendThe government's relentless assault on privacy. (Read) July 16, 2014 The World According to BabaBarbara Walters' contribution to the decline of journalism. (Read) June 14, 2014 Thugs vs. ThugsWhy must we always take sides in the fights of other nations? (Read) June 1, 2014 Use Your Vote or Lose ItWhen citizens disenfranchise themselves. (Read) May 29, 2014 Decline Is in the Eye of the BeholderSardinia and the pleasures of living. (Read) May 11, 2014 Not UsNationalism: the beginning of the end of nations. (Read) March 30, 2014 Just One Big Unhappy FamilyGenetics shows that we are all related. And? (Read) March 2, 2014 A Hard Pill to SwallowBig Pharma and the failure of government regulation. (Read) January 25, 2014 2013
"Bah Humbug" vs. "God Bless Us, Every One"Where is the Christmas spirit the rest of the year? (Read) December 24, 2013
Class InactionThe first step in eliminating class distinctions in America is to admit we have them. (Read) December 15, 2013 What is TrueMistaken notions, conspiracy theories and just plain lies. (Read) November 24, 2013 When Institutions DieThe sad demise of New York City Opera. (Read) October 6, 2013 Bad NewsStrong echoes of Paddy Chayefsky's "Network" in Aaron Sorkin's "The Newsroom". (Read) August 24, 2013 A Rising Tide Swamps Many BoatsGeorge Packer's The Unwinding documents the death of the American middle class. (Read) July 29, 2013 Before We Bury Mr. SnowdenThere are vital points to be made about America's secret surveillance of its citizens, but Edward Snowden is blowing the chance to make them. (Read) June 26, 2013 Divided We StandAn amicable divorce could leave all Americans in the country they truly desire. (Read) May 25, 2013 It's a Man's WorldAnd if Sheryl Sandberg has her way, it always will be. (Read) April 27, 2013 Enemies of CivilizationWe know who they are; now let's prosecute them. (Read) March 23, 2013 
Shepherd v. FarmerAn altogether new reading of scripture. (Read) February 3, 2013
Notes from a Disaster ZoneHurricane Sandy and its aftermath. (Read) November 25, 2012
How to Destroy Public Education in Four Easy Steps 
FAITH: Why We Believe 
POWER: Why It Exists, Who Has It, How It Affects Everything Cruel Jokes: 10 Reasons Why We Are So Confused A BOOK OF DIALOGUES
Archive2012Notes from a Disaster ZoneThe Expendable GirlPlay By the Rules, and LoseHow to Destroy Public Education in Four Easy StepsThe Unbearable Weight of Collective Responsibility"The Unemployed Need Not Apply"The Inescapable PastDNA is Destiny — Or NotPersonhood: Are Corporations and Churches People, Too?The Old Man's (Debt) Burden"Your Call Is Very Important to Us"Justice: Neither Blind nor JustWhose Culture Is It, Anyway?The Internet and the Price of Instant GratificationIn Concert: Music, A Question without an AnswerKeep Your Church's Hands Off My GovernmentBegging the King's PardonThe Strange & Sensational World of MurakamiThe Book of Mammon2011The Despot, the Dissident and the DoubterWhy I Don't Watch Football Any MoreChildren of Paradise: A Future of Poverty…and Multiply, and Multiply…Zuccotti Park: The Occupation of NowherePost-Mortem: Put Our Dead Enemies on TrialThe Murder of an Immigrant: Not in Our CountryA Hymn to the Traffic CircleSeptember 11: No Choice But to RememberThe Poisoned Land: "Silent Spring" RevisitedThe Psychopath Next DoorThe Puck Stops Here: Public Dollars for Private ProfitThe Tabloids Reign SupremeRealism Defined: The Overlooked Novels of John WilliamsDemocracy by LawsuitThe Puritans Win AgainThe Unchanging Face of Woody AllenPortents of Doom: The Media's Obsession with Idiots and CharlatansThe Limits of MusicThe Death of Bin Laden:
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