"The Boy Who Cried Wolf"

 I yearn for a Ronald Reagan-type figure to emerge from our political landscape. The idea of doing a deal with Putin that would satisfy a few days demand for diesel fuel, and at the same time bad-mouthing Mr. Zelensky who has done miracles for the people of Ukraine, strikes me as dangerous and the height of idiocy. And certainly I would never buy a watch stamped “Trump.” And the idea that we should make a martyr, through a public execution, of U.S. Army major Nidal Hasan, an Islamic terrorist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in Texas seven years ago is unnecessarily provocative and just plain stupid.

 

What has happened to us, or, I should say to our political leaders. The loudest voices on the left are advocating a path toward Socialism. Are there any common-sensical politicians out there? 

 

Perhaps. I read with admiration Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech last Wednesday in Athens – a call for Western nations to reconnect with their civilizational and historical roots. I just hope his wisdom and decency prevail. If you have not read it, pull it up on the internet.

 

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

Thought of the Day

“The Boy Who Cried Wolf”

October 14, 2026

 

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populous alarmed (and hence clamorous

to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

                                                                                                                                    H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)

                                                                                                                                    In Defense of Women, 1918

 

Almost sixty years before Mencken wrote the line quoted above, Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay “Self-Reliance,” expressed similar concerns: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” In his dystopian novels Animal Farm and 1984, George Orwell wrote of his misgivings for “groupthink” and “doublethink” – where the desire for group harmony overrides critical thinking and reasoned debate.

 

In last Tuesday’s The Wall Street Journal, Steven Koonin and Dr. Scott Atlas wrote analogously, in an op-ed titled “Covid, Climate and the ‘Consensus Trap:’” “We should neither be wholly distrustful of expertise nor subservient to it without critical challenge. We must institute safeguards that make expertise trustworthy: transparency about uncertainty, protection for those who test it, and real consequences when things go wrong.”

 

While Koonin and Atlas were writing of global warming scares, the 2008 credit crisis and Covid, they could have included the recent reaction of many, including mainstream media, politicians and some industry leaders to potential dangers stemming from AI. This is not to suggest that the planet is not in a warming cycle, that debt does not pose risks, that contagious respiratory diseases should be ignored, or that artificial intelligence cannot be used for nefarious purposes. Life is filled with risks, which must be carefully assessed. But sensible risk-taking is integral to a free society that seeks advancement. A police state promises security, but at a price no lover of freedom wants to pay. 

 

There are natural risks over which we have little control. Paleontologists tell us that during the Mesozoic Era (250 to 60 million years ago) the Earth’s temperature was ten to fourteen degrees warmer than it is today. During the peak of the last ice age (10,000 to 11,000 years ago), the temperature was ten to twelve degrees colder than today. Paleoclimatologists attribute those changes to small adjustments in the Earth’s orbit, the tilt on its axis, atmospheric greenhouse gasses, volcanic eruptions and ocean currents. However, these same people estimate that the Earth will survive another four to five billion years. Certainly, man has had an effect on the environment and the weather, but are his effects existential? When I note a ten degree upward (or downward) change in the outside temperature in 24 hours, I marvel at the power of nature – the energy required to warm (or cool) millions of cubic feet of the Earth’s atmosphere in a relatively short time. We face many challenges, but I doubt climate catastrophe is in our immediate future. 

 

The 2008 credit crisis was largely a consequence of political pressure to increase home ownership through government guaranteed loans, while encouraging rating agencies to make subprime mortgages appear safe to lenders. When the economy turned down jobs were lost and foreclosures increased. Yet no one – not politicians, Wall Street bankers, or homebuyers who took on more debt than they should have – assumed responsibility. Largely ignored today by both media and politicians is a real crisis – the size of the federal government’s debt and its entitlement obligations. 

 

Lockdowns of schools were seen as one answer to Covid, even as the lethality was largely centered on the elderly. The human cost can be seen in declines in student academic performance, but have we seen or heard any mea culpas?

 

Mencken was right. Alarming voters propels some politicians into seats of power. As well, such tactics enrich others. Artificial intelligence seems to be the latest target. We have been told that mankind could become extinct in a few years, that a billion people might die. What they mean – but what gets little press – is that a bad actor (a human) could gain control. That is true, as it would be if, for example, Iran got an atomic bomb, and as it was when Mohamed Atta took control of American Airlines Flight 11 on 9/11. Good and evil are not characteristics of weather, markets, pathogens or software. They are traits of humans. The technology already exists to shut down our banking system, close our power grid and interrupt air control. It is critical that we stay ahead of those individuals and nations who would do us harm. Regulation may be needed; for that reason President Trump appointed National Intelligence Director Jay Clayton, former Chair of the SEC, to serve as the Administration’s AI leader.

 

To the best of my knowledge there is no magic formula that erases evil from mankind. But the teaching of ethics is not a bad place to start. The Bible teaches that all humans have the capacity to do harm and good. Morality is not relative; it is universal, as the Ten Commandments make clear. Artificial Intelligence, in the wrong hands, makes easier the ability to cause harm, which is why it is imperative we, as a nation, stay in the lead in its development. Democracy may not be the perfect form of government and free-market capitalism may not be the most equitable economic system, but history shows that no better system has ever been devised.

 

The title of this essay comes from Aesop Fables. Its moral: Because the boy had shown himself a liar, when a wolf did appear no one believed him, and the sheep were scattered. A few of those who warn of the evil of Artificial Intelligence may truly believe in the Frankenstein traits of what they have created. Others fear liability suits or want to discourage competition. Some see warnings as a way to enhance their profile. Politicians see virtue in scaring the public, as it sends people running for the cover of a benevolent government. And there will be a small number whose interest is in having U.S. companies slow their research and development, which would allow China and others to surge ahead.

 

Beware the alarmists.

"Wherefore Wisdom"

 While I will invade your in-box tomorrow with a book review, it is short (approximately 500 words) and I promise to stay away for the next few days. The below is something to munch on as you prepare your stomach for Thursday.

 

The owl symbolizes all that I wish for our country.

 

Sydney M. Williams

 

Thought of the Day

“Wherefore Wisdom?”

November 21, 2025

 

“...the most complicated fabric of the most perfect form of government” resulted

from a “great measure of accident” plus “a small ingredient of wisdom and foresight.”[1]

                                                                                                                David Hume (1711-1776)

                                                                                                                Scottish philosopher

                                                                                                                The History of England, 1754

 

“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

                                                                                                                Professor George Santayana (1863-1952)

                                                                                                                Reason in Common Sense

                                                                                                                Vol I of The Life of Reason, 1905

 

Across most cultures there are certain values that are ancient, universal and enduring. In the Judeo-Christian world there are the Ten Commandments, especially those that command us to honor our parents, to not kill, steal, bear false witness, commit adultery, or covet our neighbor’s spouse or goods, and there are lessons from Aesop about the value of work, the importance of skepticism, and the detriment of envy – all embedded in his Fables: “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” “The Fox and the Crow,” and “The Fox and the Grapes.” 

 

I have been thinking of these issues as I recently read C.S. Lewis’ 1942 book, The Screwtape Letters and Joseph Ellis’ recent history The Great Contradiction[2].  Lewis’ book is a series of letters from Screwtape to his nephew Wormwood, a “novice demon.” It speaks to the temptations of the devil. Ellis discusses the inherent contradiction between the words in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and slavery and the forced removal of Native Americans from their historic lands.  

 

The abolitionist and Unitarian minister, Theodore Parker sermonized in 1853: “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one...But from what I see it bends toward justice.” The study of history is important as Professor Santayana makes clear in an epithet that heads this essay, to understand how, despite abiding values embedded in culture, practices change; evil is ubiquitous and often arrives disguised. It is important that we each learn the ancient lessons of the Ten Commandments and the morals of Aesop, so that we behave civilly and accept responsibility. 

 

It may be that every generation judges past ones based on current standards. Certainly, ours does. Feeling smug and complacent, too many of us spend time judging the ethical shortcomings of past generations, rather than focusing on the failings of our own. It explains the popularity of Nicole Hannah-Jones’ The 1619 Project, made worse by a focus on identity – that people are either victims or oppressors. It may make us feel better to cast blame on those long dead, but history, like evolution, is a continuum. And it moves slowly, as Reverend Parker intimated. According to Google’s AI, modern humans first evolved in Africa more than 300,000 years ago. But it was only five to six thousand years ago that humans formed civil societies. And consider how recently it was that women were allowed to vote!

 

Tribal wars and slavery were common in much of the world into the early 19^th Century. Such conflicts, fueled by political power struggles, resources and historical grievances, are still common in places like the Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria and the Central African Republic. If one includes forced labor, debt bondage, forced marriage and human trafficking an estimated 50 million people today are slaves. And we cannot forget That the 20^th Century was the bloodiest on record – that it gave rise to both Nazism on the right and Communism on the left. Combined, they enslaved an estimated 50 million people and killed double that number. Even today, according to Freedom House, only about 20% of the world’s population live in countries where political rights and civil liberties are protected. Evil persists. We can point to the civil war in Sudan, the conflicts in Myanmar and Syria, the killing of Christians in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Nigeria, the brutal fight in Ukraine, and Israel’s continued existential wars, but individually we would be wise to search our own souls, to cleanse ourselves of the hatred that too often rises to the surface – to consider the words of David Hume in the epithet above. Wisdom has been AWOL.

 

The recent decline in morals that have guided us over many years is not limited to acts of violence. The recent admission by the BBC that they had doctored a January 6, 2021 speech by then President Trump to make it appear he had instigated the attack on the Capitol later that day was a deliberate act of malfeasance. Their decision implied a lack of faith in the ability of their viewers to fairly consider facts and respond appropriately. The same could be said of those who pushed the Russian collusion story of 2016.

 

The values we should return to are simple and ancient ones, ones that have stood the test of time. The world would benefit from a return to those principles laid out in the 10 Commandments, which were delivered over 3,000 years ago. And we would gain from re-reading those tales of the Greek slave Aesop who lived 2,600 years ago. “Wisdom,” Albert Einstein wrote in 1954, “is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.”

 

Like knowledge of history, the values that have guided us over the millennia sometimes fade from our conscience, yet they persevere. The inherent rights of individuals, rule of law, limited government and free markets are the foundation on which our country was created and built. Wherefore wisdom? Wisdom requires we not forget.

"Watch What They Do"

 What sort of a moral sense inhabits the souls of presidents and trustees of some of the nation’s most elite colleges and universities where anti-Semitic student protestors have been allowed to terrify and physically harm Jewish students, block entrances to university buildings, and chant for the annihilation of Israel? These people head institutions that are supposed to help form future leaders. God help us if they do not uphold the values for which they claim to stand.

 

On the other hand, my normal cynicism toward Washington politicians was tempered this past weekend, when the House, under Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) passed three separate bills to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, and a fourth bill that would seize frozen Russian assets and force a sale of Chinese-owned TikTok. Democrat House Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) deserves congratulations for his help in this bi-partisan show of support for these important pieces of legislation. The United States has been singularly positioned as the leader of the free world for more than a century. With size comes responsibility – not to impose our way of life on others, but to provide a vision of what is possible when the individual is the basis of a “government of the people, by the people and for the people.” If we relinquish that role, the world will be worse off.

 

Sydney M. Williams

www.swtotd.blogspot.com

 

Thought of the Day

“Watch What They Do”

April 24, 2024

 

“Don’t listen to what people say; watch what they do.”

                                                                                                                Think Like a Freak, 2014

                                                                                                                Steven D. Levitt (1967-)

                                                                                                                Stephen J. Dubner (1963-)

 

It is said that Diogenes, an obviously odd but intelligent man who lived around 400BC, went about Athens’ marketplace with a lamp during the daytime. He claimed to be looking for an honest man. Apparently, he had little luck. We might well assume that a similarly futile search could be made in the nation’s Capital at any time of day. Politicians lie. So it is what they do that should galvanize our attention.

 

Lying is endemic and not limited to politicians. We all tell lies, or “white” lies as we euphemistically call them. Aesop’s fable of the boy who cried wolf warned that when persistent liars do tell the truth, no one believes them – a lesson that politicians, reporters and others should learn. In the 19^th Century, Carlo Collodi of Florence, the pen name for Carlo Lorenzini, gave us the story of the sentient wooden puppet Pinocchio whose nose grew longer when he lied. Sadly, lying noses do not lengthen among those in Washington today. Rather, they believe Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda minister who said that if a lie is repeated often enough it is perceived as truth – like telling the public that only adherence to a Democrat-led agenda will save the planet from destruction. Climate change is a fact. The planet’s climate has changed thousands of times over millions of years. It will continue to do so. But people’s behavior is just one cause. 

 

While the media has been filled with Donald Trump’s lies, exaggerations and transgressions – and, certainly, Trump is a notorious liar – lying comes naturally to most of those who become politicians. It was Joe Biden who told the world he was arrested when visiting a jailed Nelson Mandela, that his uncle was eaten by cannibals in the Pacific during the Second World War, that he visited “Ground Zero” on September 12, 2001, and, to a Teamsters meeting, that he once drove tractor trailers. Mr. Biden, of course, has the excuse that he is “an elderly man with a poor memory.”

 

There have been other colorful examples: Nine months before he resigned on August 7, 1974 over the Watergate break-in, President Nixon told a group of reporters: “I am not a crook.” President Clinton on January 26, 1998, referring to White House intern Monica Lewinsky, declared: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” On September 5, 2002, President Bush told the American people that Iraq had “weapons of mass destruction.” And President Obama, on June 6, 2009, said, referring to his proposed federal takeover of healthcare: “If you like the doctor you have, you can keep your doctor too. The only change you’ll see are falling costs as reforms take hold.” 

 

But consider some of what they did: One of the five “plumbers” (James W. McCord) who broke into the Watergate complex on June 17, 1972 was a member of Nixon’s Committee to Reelect the President. Stains on the blue dress worn by Ms. Lewinsky suggested a definitional difference in the words “sexual relations.” Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction. And, according to the Peterson Center on Healthcare, the cost for medical care services has risen 49.6% since June 2009, double the rate of consumer prices.

 

Today, we are told that the southern border is secure, yet according to The Washington Post “illegal border crossings have averaged 2 million per year since 2021, the highest level ever.” We are told of extraordinary job creations in the past three years, yet part of the rise has been an increase in part-time employment, as the ratio between full-time and part-time has narrowed since mid-2023. As well, part of the job increases are due to growth in government jobs. J.P. Morgan reported that government jobs gained 56,000 per month in 2023, more than double the monthly gain of 23,000 in 2022. On April 10, President Biden was quoted: “…inflation has fallen more than 60% from its peak…” While that was true, it is also true that in March of this year, the CPI came in at 0.4%, double the Federal Reserve’s benchmark.

 

On September 29, 2023, speaking at the Atlantic Festival in Washington, D.C., Jake Sullivan, America’s National Security Advisor, rattled off a list of positive developments in the Middle East, a result of Biden’s policies: “The Middle East region is quieter today than it has been in two decades.” Eight days later Iran’s proxy Hamas, headquartered in Gaza, launched an unprovoked attack on Israeli citizens, raping, mutilating and killing 1,200 civilians. Mr. Sullivan, in his comments, conveniently ignored the devastating withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, the pursuit of Obama’s Iran Deal, which has allowed Iran to pursue their atomic program, and the reluctance to pursue the Abraham Accords, which had been leading to Sunni Muslims’ recognition of Israel.  

 

We are told that democracy is at risk, if the despised Donald Trump is re-elected. No one doubts that the continuation of our democratic republic is vital to all Americans. But does the much-watched Trump represent the sole risk to democracy? Is there not a risk from those who have gradually (and insidiously) strengthened the Executive branch, especially from those who believe that government knows best? Democracy has proven to be the most equitable political system ever contrived, largely because it incorporates free market capitalism, which provides the economic growth necessary for a nation’s operations, defense, and its social welfare programs. But markets work most efficiently when regulations do not impede innovation and when taxes do not limit investment. Consider what has been done and what is proposed: Forbes reported on December 29 that 2023 that the Federal Register, the daily depository of rules and regulations, wrapped up 2023 with 90,402 pages, “…the second highest tally of all time.” On March 11, President Biden sent Congress his proposed 2025 budget, which calls for a $5 trillion increase in taxes, to come from corporations and individuals making over $400,000 per annum. Barriers to economic growth, whether from regulations or taxes, have unfavorable consequences for all citizens.

 

Nevertheless, we should keep in mind that lies are sometimes necessary. For example, in time of war lies can deceive the enemy, or they can be used to withhold the truth from those near death and who are emotionally fragile. It may be more ethical to lie to help a friend save face in public; and secrets, whether corporate, institutional or government, to remain secret may involve fabrications or even, God forbid, fake news. There have been times when Presidents have had to lie to the public in the interest of national security.

 

But none of these examples exonerate politicians who lie to curry favor, to harvest votes, to further political careers, or to those in the media who aid their ignoble political friends by obscuring facts. Hannah Arendt, a refugee from the deadliest of European lies, once wrote that perhaps political deception is the greatest threat. In a recent Wall Street Journal review of Richard Sennett’s new book, The Performer, Barton Swaim quoted from Yuval Levin’s 2020 book, A Time to Build: “…the presidency and Congress are just stages for political performance art; when a university becomes a venue for vain virtue signaling, when journalism is indistinguishable from activism – they become harder to trust. They aren’t really asking for our confidence, just for our attention.” Sadly, that seems to be true.

 

In 1969, Nixon’s Attorney General John Mitchell said: “Watch what we do, not what we say.” We did. You know the rest.

"Whither Wisdom?"

 

2022 was quite a year. The stock market put in its worst performance since 2008. Interest rates returned (painfully) to more normal levels. Cyber currencies experienced a dose of realism. 

 

Internationally, Ukraine showed that people will fight for freedom, while both Russia and China suffered for a lack of the same.

 

Domestically, political extremism continues to command soapboxes, while political correctness continues to dominate educational and cultural institutions, but the air feels a little fresher. The old guard of political leaders are showing their age. It is my prediction that, in both parties, Generation Xers (1964-1980) will replace Boomers (1946-1964) in the next Presidential race. 

 

Sydney M. Williams

https://swtotd.blogspot.com

 

Thought of the Day

“Whither Wisdom?”

January 2, 2023

 

“Wisdom is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it.”

                                                                                         Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

                                                                                         Albert Einstein, the Human Side: from his Archives, 1981

                                                                                         Editors, Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman

 

When sixteen, with a new license in my wallet, I took my father for a drive. He cautioned me about driving too fast. I replied, “My reflexes are faster than yours.” “Yes,” he responded, “but you lack judgment.” His words were wise, while mine, which may have retained a scintilla of truth, were foolish.

 

Having good judgement means having the ability to see things from all sides, the ability to make a choice based on logic, experience, reason, and good sense. Good judgement is related to wisdom, which can be defined as having insight, understanding, perception, and common sense. Mimicking Einstein’s words in the rubric above, the four sources of wisdom, according to the Book of Proverbs, are: observation and experience, instruction based on experience, learning from mistakes, and revelation. The latter refers to the fact that the Bible teaches us that God is the ultimate source of wisdom. 

 

But today wisdom has yielded to wokeness, which is defined as the state of being aware of social problems: racism, inequality, sustainability, and injustice. Everyone agrees that racism and injustice should be combatted wherever found. We all agree that equality before the law is critical to a democracy, and that equal opportunities should be offered to all. But we are not equal in abilities or aspiration, so outcomes will never be equal. In his new book, Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategies, Henry Kissinger wrote of “the natural inequalities of endowments,” which should be harnessed “for the public good.” Individually, we should play to our strengths, be they academic, athletic, mechanical, or artistic. We should strive to do what we are best at: teaching, building homes, playing the Cello, investing, or plumbing. It is what makes a strong community. And while we should agree that care for the environment is a sacred trust, it would be foolish to let the quest for sustainability destroy our capitalist system, which has raised living standards, reduced poverty, and made life more bearable for the world’s poorest. We can and should do both.

 

In our desire for social justice, is it wise to eliminate merit as a requirement for admission to selective, public schools. In their zeal to call out inequality in economic outcomes, the woke fail to acknowledge that work provides dignity. In a Wall Street Journal review of The Myth of American Inequality by Phil Gramm, Robert Ekelund, and John Early, Charles Calomiris noted that in the bottom quintile of income earners only 36% of the people work, versus 92% of those in the middle quintile. While some of the poor cannot work, is not there a lesson in those statistics? And what about climate warriors? Approximately 79% of energy consumed in the U.S. comes from fossil fuels – coal, gas, and oil. While that percentage has declined, is it wise to sacrifice this energy source in a bid to get to “net zero” emissions by a set date, like 2050? – a goal called for by the President, but which the Electric Power Research Institute says is unrealistic.

 

On international tests, our public schools (K-12) perform poorly, especially when one considers the amount of money spent annually on a per student basis – the fifth highest of all countries, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Yet the results are subpar. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) conducts tests every three years for fifteen-year-olds. The most recent one from 2018, and released in December 2019, showed the United States 13 in reading, 18 in science, and 38 in math. (PISA tests for 2021 were postponed until 2022.) With such poor results, is it wise to offer a course on transgender studies when that time could be spent more productively, for example even reading Aesop’s Fables, each with its moral lesson? After all, Aesop was a former African slave who lived on the Greek Island of Samos 2,600 years ago, and the lessons his stories teach are timeless. Has social media made youth wiser, or has it made them more fragile, raising levels of anxiety? Is it wise for them to spend hours on Instagram or Tik Tok, subjecting themselves to taunts? They should be accountable, accept responsibility for their words and actions, not hide behind anonymous devices. They should rid themselves from making half-assed excuses for failure, like claiming victimhood. As well, the unwise suppression of speech by universities and media outlets – decisions justified with claims of hate, disinformation, and a failure to “follow the science.” 

 

Is it wise for a government with $31 trillion in national debt and almost a hundred trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities for Medicare and Social Security – about $400,000 for every man, woman, and child – to continue to add to its debt? Will not those obligations, combined with tighter regulations and higher taxes, cause interest rates to rise and negatively impact future economic growth? Did not the Federal Reserve decision to keep Fed Funds below two percent for fifty-one of the last fifty-six quarters discourage savings and encourage asset speculation?

 

An absence of wisdom defines our nation. Has it been wise to leave our southern border essentially open? Was it wise to weaponize the FBI and the Justice Department to combat political enemies? Has it been wise for media – both traditional and social – to suppress news that does not comply with political ideologies, like the Hunter Biden Laptop story? Is it wise to test people for Covid who enter the U.S. from China, but not test those, including ones from China, who illegally cross into the U.S. from Mexico?

 

Political wisdom is rare, for most politicians are focused on the next election. But our schools, universities, and news outlets should be founts of practical wisdom, for their concern should be the molding of people to think freely and independently, not to create puppets spewing back ideologies. Our nation depends on an educated and informed citizen. In J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers Sam Gamgee speaks to Frodo Baggins: “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no telling where you might be swept off to.” Every day we step out our doors, and when foolishness leads the world becomes dangerous. We must ensure that we are intellectually and emotionally prepared, so that our democratic republic survives attacks, from both without and within. 

 

We live in a time of extraordinary technological change, especially in the fields of communication and social media, giving us little time to reflect and absorb. Thirty-five years ago, in Isaac Asimov’s Book of Science and Nature, Professor Asimov was quoted: “The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society can gather wisdom.” Today the world is changing even faster than it was in 1988. However, over two hundred years ago, in Literary Remains, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote, “Common sense, in an uncommon degree, is what the world calls wisdom.” Wise words. So, we don’t have to be Solomons, Aristotles, or Coleridges. We should be both curious and cautious; we should read and question; we should reason, and we should take time away from our devices to quietly think. 

 

Where has wisdom gone? Into the vapors of political correctness? Perhaps. The common-sensical wisdom which I mourn is more natural than its contrived woke replacement. My wish for 2023 is to see its return – something to consider as 2023 unfolds.