Saturday Good Reads

Most of my working career has been spent working for corporations, three of them, in fact, not counting the ones I freelanced for in the early 2000s. From 1974 to 2015, I witnessed a sea change in how American companies addressed issues in society and issues within their own four walls.

The 1980s were the critical decade – the layoffs, restructurings, mergers and acquisitions of that decade were particularly important for breaking the traditional social contract with employees. Remnants of that old contract remained into the early 2000s, but by the first decade of this century, that contract was only a distant memory (and for the record, I call it “the old contract,” not “the ideal contract.”) That change had huge implications for families and how companies treated their employees. At First Things, Patrick Deneen explains why corporations changed the way they did, jettisoning most of what social conservatives believe in.

Recent events are laying bare the deep divisions within the United States – and what we’re seeing is not cracks but deepening chasms. One good thing to come out of the current university protests is the placing of a spotlight on the university – and it is not a good situation, especially for English departments. See “When nothing is cool” by Lisa Ruddick, a professor of English at the University of Chicago (I can’t even imagine what she’s going to go through because of this article).

And if you missed it the first time (back in 1978), you can listen to Alexander Solzhentisyn's commencement address. It infuriated the news media at the time, and it warned against a libertarianism run wild in the West. The man was a prophet.

But, as always, we can appreciate good poetry, regardless of the poet’s political convictions; we can wonder at how faith is expressed in the creation of a table; and we can marvel at what the photographer can capture with his or her camera.

Life and Culture

College Killed His Love of History – Rod Dreher at American Conservative.

When nothing is cool – Lisa Ruddick at The Point.

What we lose when we prayer-shame politicians after a mass shooting – Russell Moore at The Washington Post.

Why We Need You to NOT Unfriend, Unfollow, or Block Those You Disagree With On Social Media – Shawn Smucker.

Why Deep Thinking is Needed Now More than Ever – Jon Mertz at Thin Difference.

"Radicalization": Let's not overdo it with this glib new term – David Murray at Writing Boots.

The Power Elite – Patrick Deneen at First Things. Deen’s interview with First Things Senior Editor Mark Bauerlein: When Corporations Turned on Social Conservatives.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn's Harvard Commencement Address - via Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds.

Faith

The Champion Table – Jack Baumgartner at The School of the Transfer of Energy.

Getting What You Really Want This Christmas – Mick Silva.

A prayer for a friend, when holidays are hard – Doug Spurling at Spurling Silver.

Poetry

Winter’s Refugium – Tim Good at Arts by Tiwago.

Madeleine L’Engle – D.S. Martin at Kingdom Poets.

Prayer at Winter Solstice – Dana Gioia at First Things.

Voices in a Winter Chapel – Brendan MacOdrum at Oran’s Well.

Contractions – Troy Cady at T(r)oy Marbles.

The War Poets: How poetry has shaped our view of the Great War – Yorkshire Post. (Hat tip: Janet Young.)

Photography

Outside – Inside – Tim Good at Arts by Tiwago.

Buster Keaton – The Art of the Gag

Photograph by Ian L via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.