Category: Life & Human Nature
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Make Life Happen—or Someone Else Will
We have a simple choice: We can make life happen, or we can let life happen. That does not mean we control everything that happens to us. We plainly do not. We do not choose where we are born, the health we inherit, the economy we enter, the family that raises us, or every calamity…
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Does Donald Trump Believe God Has Authority Over Donald Trump?
Inner Monologue There is a side of Donald Trump that American Christians either don’t know about, don’t understand, or have decided to ignore. And it may be the most revealing side of him. We spend a remarkable amount of time debating whether Donald Trump is a Christian. He says he is. Millions of Christians enthusiastically…
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Why I Write So Much About Donald Trump
Some readers may wonder why I write so much about Donald Trump. The answer is simple. I find him fascinating. In my lifetime, I have never witnessed an American president so openly willing to challenge the boundaries of acceptable presidential conduct, personal decency, and political accountability. Other presidents have had their scandals. Their ethical lapses.…
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The Inner Monologue Is Now Public Property. You’re Welcome.
It has come to my attention that some people believe the words published here belong to me. How embarrassing for them. Effective immediately, I have released whatever copyright I own in all past and future Inner Monologue posts into the public domain under CC0, unless a post expressly states otherwise. Copy them. Share them. Republish…
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It’s Okay Not to Vote
We tell people to vote as though casting a ballot is, all by itself, an accomplishment. Doesn’t matter whether you understand the issues. Doesn’t matter whether you know anything about the candidates. Just get in there and participate. Here’s your sticker. But if we believe voting matters, shouldn’t we care what goes into the vote?…
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House Would Have Been Fired. We’d Have Called That a Tragedy.
The least believable thing about House M.D. isn’t the obscure disease, the conveniently timed laboratory result, or the moment when an unrelated conversation suddenly supplies the answer to a medical mystery. It’s that Gregory House keeps his job. A real hospital might tolerate his arrogance. It might accommodate his difficult personality, forgive the occasional insult,…
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The Secret Ingredient of Flourishing Societies
What makes a society not just survive, but shine? Economists will say it’s productivity. Politicians insist it’s freedom. Cultural critics point to heritage or geography. But a quieter and more profound truth keeps reappearing across history: societies where basic human needs are reliably met—food, shelter, health care, and education—are the ones that most often radiate…
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Alone in a System Built for Pairs: Why Society Penalizes the Solo
We like to tell ourselves that modern society celebrates individuality. Marketing slogans insist we should “be ourselves,” break free from the crowd, and choose our own path. But scratch beneath the surface of the institutions that govern daily life—healthcare, housing, finance, government—and another truth emerges: the system is designed for people in pairs, in households,…
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When Permission Breeds Cruelty: The Dark Side of Human Nature
There’s a comforting myth we like to tell ourselves: people are basically good. Scratch the surface, though, and history offers a far harsher lesson. Ordinary men and women—neighbors, clerks, bus drivers, and teachers—have again and again transformed into enforcers of cruelty when authority granted them permission. From Nazi Germany’s concentration camps, to Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge…
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Modern Communication and the Third-Message Threshold
We live in a time where messages are constant but meaning is scarce. If the last century was defined by scarcity of communication—letters, phone calls, telegrams—today is defined by its excess. The paradox of our age is that the more we talk, the less we actually hear. Anyone who has sent an email, left a…
