The Frank Forum Turns Two!
We mustn't lose sight of the fact that civil society is a prerequisite for democracy in the fullest sense of the word. That is, an atomized citizenry - much like a sick fish that loses its slime coat, the protective layer that aids in thwarting off disease and bacterial infection - will invariably fall ill and, therefore, susceptible to dangerous, meretricious ideologies and regimes.
A society typified by robust levels of civil society, however, is far less likely to be seduced by illiberalism and flimsy utopian claims.
American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Tim Carney makes this point in his must-read book, Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse (Harper, 2019).
The thesis is actually quite simple: civil society is, in effect, your slime coat.
So... why start a blog when this social malady of alienation has already been documented in various books?
Well, short blogs are, at least in my experience, easily digestible. Reading Bowling Alone once ten years ago isn't enough; we need to be constantly reminded of the things that plague us if we are to know how to tackle them in a meaningful way.
These posts - which are often short and without frills - are to serve as weekly reminders that we cannot just sit around and hope that things miraculously get better. We have to actually do things.
That is why posts on here are not just descriptive; they are also normative and prescriptive.
Two years isn't a long time, though. We have to stay on the beat.
I am grateful to this blog's great contributors: Matthew Malec, Troy M. Olson, Laik J. Green, and others for their important pieces.
I am also grateful to this blog's supporters such as Lynn Gibson and Jack Fowler for their promotion of this site.
2025 is already off to a great start. Let's keep this ball rolling...
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