Category Culture
A Non-Patriot’s Guide to Liking America
Patriotism is such a loaded term. If I say I’m not patriotic, people with star spangled wind chimes and confusion regarding the nature of medicare will grumble and utter nonsense like “love it or leave it.” If I say I like America, people with fair trade arugula salads and romantic notions of camping in one’s […]
You Don’t Know Jack, Part Two
Law, the entire concept of law, is perverse. It is anti-social. It is the root of violence and revolution. It is the cause, not the cure, for failed countries like Somalia. It looks like it promotes order, but it actually sows the seeds of chaos whenever it arises. Please join me. Please, help me free […]
Guide to Basic Moral Systems
Guide to Basic Moral Systems (영어회화 1 학생 내용 스터디가이드) 도덕의 시스템을 한국어로 공부하고 싶으면 파랑색 린크를 크릭해 보세요. 한국어로 쓴 자료 유익하지만 영어로 쓴 것도 읽어야 합니다. 너무 어려면, 저에개 연력해 주세요. Morality is subjective (주관적). It’s a feeling, or a set of prejudices or a group of habits. Because of this, the first […]
Simple Things
Food. What does that word make you think of? Rich gravy, smothering juicy turkey breast and mashed potatoes? Poly-unsaturated fats and the state of your arteries? Fresh bread so soft it melts on your lips? Guilt about starving children in Ethiopia? A vague hope that your guests might think “this stir fry is amazing, the […]
Hostile Takeovers
Melissa, 11 or 12 years-old and dressed in an expensive yellow vest with fur lining, walked with the rigidity and formality of a senior vice president for human resources. She stood before Jenny and spoke with a seriousness both upbeat and weaponized. “I’m not your friend anymore,” Melissa said. “The circumstances make that impossible. I […]
Bad Man, Funny Girl
“Is there a Mr. Patriarchy S. Infantalizer in the waiting room?” research assistant Jamie Jayne asked. “I want to make sure I have the name right.” “That’s me, but you can just call me Patriarchy.” “It’s so nice of you to join us all the way from the 19th century, Patriarchy. I’m very grateful […]
An Open Letter to My Readers
Dear Readers, I’m sure you’ve seen articles in which writers explain their struggles to find inspiration. I’m sure you’ve seen articles where writers explain how, crushed as they are under unbearable work loads and familial burdens unequaled by Atlas himself, it’s just so hard to find time to bless you all with another glorious tome […]
Buying Happiness
A lot of folks believe that money doesn’t buy happiness. I don’t think I outright disagree, but I can’t help rolling my eyes. Part of this is my maniacal (and often hypocritical) hatred for cliche, but a bigger factor is simply the fact I’ve been both upper and lower class and, as such, I know […]
The Blackguard – My Novel in Ten Sentences
My first published novel, The Blackguard, is about 60,000 words long. I’m going to try and explain it in ten sentences. Props to Diotima’s Ladder for this idea. The Blackguard is about oppressed minorities getting run over by the march of modernity, except here those minorities are white supremacists who practice Chinese-style foot-binding, East African-style scarification […]
You Don’t Know Jack
Science tells us the capital”T” Truth. We don’t think it, we don’t believe it, we don’t suspect it. We know it because science is repeatable, it’s systematic and we can verify everything science says through empirical methods. We’re smart, us scientific people, we aren’t a bunch of creation scientists or fortune tellers or primitive Amazonian tribesmen […]
Ben Garrido's Author Page 