DOCSLIB.ORG

Binary Thinking

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Binary Thinking Libertarian Consistency and “Binary do nothing, that sends shock waves through the typical line of thinking. Libertarianism, because of its core principles of self- Thinking” ownership, property rights, and the general competency of by Joe Roberts those who have “skin in the game” to make the best decisions for their own lives, is free to be more imaginative in its Well, 2020 has been quite the solutions, because it is not tethered to this binary thinking of dumpster fire so far, hasn’t “Government should do A or government should do B.” it? Pandemics, government lockdowns, brutality and murder by the police making headlines, riots and protests. In the midst of the unrest, we hear voices from the left and voices from the right shouting over each other and generally segregating across the party lines, as usual, presenting their takes on these situations. This binary rhetoric presents an opportunity for vocal libertarians to engage in dialogue and debate with those in the general public who cannot escape the A libertarian does not have to choose between declaring that binary thinking that results, hopefully providing a consistent the COVID-19 coronavirus is a medical issue to be taken “third way” based on the principles of liberty. seriously and understanding the devastating impact, including the human cost, of the government locking down the economy, putting 40 million people out of work, preventing the exercise of our civil liberties, and passing so-called “stimulus bills” with a price tag in the trillions of dollars. Instead, a libertarian can advocate for a third alternative, namely, all of us individually looking out for ourselves and each other. A libertarian can advocate the wearing of masks, while opposing a government mandate on them. A libertarian can protest for ending the lockdowns without insisting that a private establishment must allow customers in without taking lockdown precautions. A libertarian can cry To present a libertarian view means breaking through some out against the commonly-held beliefs by both Democrats and Republicans. violence of the police The main one is the idea that the government should be “doing against poor people something.” Those in the two major parties will differ on of color, while exactly what that “something” is, but when a libertarian pointing out that suggests that the government should withdraw and essentially destroying and looting private businesses is counterproductive Page 1 Libertarian Party of Dallas County, Texas June 2020 to getting justice and ending state oppression. A libertarian of Campaign Marketing During whatever race can genuinely listen to people of color, empathize with their fears, listen to their cries for justice, Quarantine believe them, and disagree with those who suggest that more by Amber Jewell government is a solution to a government problem involving individuals working for, and protected by, the government. We This election season has can advocate against aggression at the same time we become a unique encourage everyone of all races and economic backgrounds to experience, thanks to arm themselves and be prepared to resist and retaliate against COVID-19. The aggression. We can concede that there is actual racial and coronavirus has made social injustice in 2020, and understand that racial disharmony campaigning a more and class warfare distracts us from our more poignant, difficult task than ever common enemy: the tyrannical state. before. Government officials have pushed us to And, yes, “true libertarians” can disagree with other “true be locked inside our homes, libertarians” on what non-government solutions to all of these insisted on face masks, and problems might look like. In many cases, certain solutions will have tried to prevent us yield more positive results from face-to-face contact. These “requirements” have, in turn, in some instances than created a situation in which candidates can have minimal they would in other contact with the most important people for their campaigns: instances. We need to the voters. So how do we continue to get our names, and the guard ourselves against Libertarian Party, out to the public? “binary thinking” ourselves, and to give one another the freedom to differ on the best ways to establish a freer society in which citizens are able to pursue personal security and prosperity. As we spread the message of liberty and promote our candidates this election year, let’s constantly keep our focus on the “big picture”: things don’t have to be a tug-of-war between two parties, each of them pulling for one of two equally wrong government solutions to force on everyone else. Let’s present true liberty as the third, and best, most empowering way. Social media has become a top resource for people who are wanting to advertise anything during this time of isolation. LPDC Membership Program! Creating images, posting videos, and sharing pertinent information can be a great way to publicize to those who are Want to help out the LPDC and at the same time get some stuck at home on their computers for much of the day. For cool libertarian swag? Check out our contributor maximum exposure, marketing experts suggest posting all membership program! over various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Of course, ads on these mediums can also be beneficial. You can use these to reach a larger audience and get the most important information out for a longer period of exposure time. You may even consider starting your own blog. If you do, make sure that you share it on all of your social media, as well. Another fantastic way to market is through branded merchandise (also called promotional products). Did you Page 2 Libertarian Party of Dallas County, Texas June 2020 know that the first evidence of promo marketing in this Any COVID-19 Response Must Include country was a Colonial-era presidential campaign button? We keep using them because they work. Get your name on Mental Health Care anything that can be by Darren Hamilton seen over and over again by a high As the COVID-19 crisis number of people – continues, most people are buttons, hats, yard focused on its impact on the signs, and t-shirts, to economy, or worried about an name a few. There are older relative falling ill. But still folks who are there is another public health getting out and about crisis looming over all of us - during this time and one that will slowly ripple they need to be shown outward, but then hit us like a who you are. You can tsunami if we don't prepare also contact friends now, and it will come in the and family to share form of a mental health crisis. your products and Campaign Button for Roger spread the word. Stress, anxiety, and trauma - MacBride for President, Alaska the big three of mental health issues – are on the horizon. Remember: it’s not 1976 We've seen stress humorously commented about in our social just about selling media news feeds. We make light-hearted jokes about anxiety, yourself. If voters don’t understand why they should vote for then forget about it. Why? Because to acknowledge that it you, the political issues remain swept under the rug. Share truly exists is to give a sort of credibility that offends the infographics, statistics, and reliable links to show that you are sensibilities of most people. Those of us who have served in a expert in what you are discussing and promoting. The more the military, especially since the turn of the century, know people understand, the more likely they are to become about "post-traumatic stress disorder" or PTSD. Post-traumatic involved. stress is a real condition, and it doesn't require being in combat to develop it. Almost any traumatic situation can be a contributor. If you Political Operations Committee! believe that you are immune to its effects, Are you a gung-ho political activist who is interested then you are only specifically in local events and politics? Does the fooling yourself. "It incessant wasteful spending of the Dallas City Council cannot happen to me" really get on your nerves? Are you concerned about local was a phrase that I government corruption and want to help keep tabs on it? used to tell myself a lot until it came up to me, We're looking for more libertarians who are astutely bit me on the butt, and interested in being watchdogs for Dallas County politics. said, "I'm here, These people are in charge of identifying strikingly anti- Marine, so you'd better libertarian government action and forming political plans get with the effing program." to couteract it. Interested? Send an e-mail to the LPDC Chair! I read a story some years ago about an Army Sergeant Major who went to weekly sessions with the base psychologist. During these sessions, they would simply talk about general things - small talk about nothing specific, and nothing on the part of the Sergeant Major that would warrant a visit to a psychologist. After a few of these weekly sessions, the psychologist asked the Sergeant Major why he continued to schedule and attend these sessions if there was not an issue that he wished to discuss. "Quite simply," said the Sergeant Major, "I want my soldiers to see me doing it. They don't need to know why I do it, but if they see me, at my age and rank, coming in regularly to talk with a psychologist, then maybe Page 3 Libertarian Party of Dallas County, Texas June 2020 some of them who actually do have issues will not feel so stigmatized, and will feel like they can get the help that they We are already reeling with the aftermath of having our health need to get through their own issues." care system and disease prevention programs undermined.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Tobias Heinrich Friedrich Schlichtegroll's Nekrolog
    Pour citer cet article : Heinrich, Tobias, « Friedrich Schlichtegroll’s Nekrolog. Enlightenment Biography », Les Grandes figures historiques dans les lettres et les arts [en ligne], n° 6 (2017), URL : http://figures-historiques.revue.univ-lille3.fr/6-2017-issn-2261-0871/. Tobias Heinrich New College, University of Oxford Friedrich Schlichtegroll’s Nekrolog. Enlightenment Biography.1 Let the dead bury the dead. We want to see the deceased as living beings, to rejoice in their lives, including their lives as they continue after their demise, and for this same reason we gratefully record their enduring contribution for posterity.2 It is with these words that Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803), theorist of Weimar Classicism and progenitor of Cultural Studies [Kulturwissenschaften], commences his critical review of Friedrich Schlichtegroll’s Nekrolog, an annual collection of biographies on the lives of exceptional people recently deceased. The review, part of Herder’s Briefe zu Beförderung der Humanität [Letters for the Advancement of Humanity] (1792-1797), outlines how the biographer’s task may be understood as an intrinsically political activity, particularly when it comes to collective rather than singular narratives, which were the dominant form of biographical discourse in eighteenth-century Germany.3 However, Herder’s incitation is aimed less at future biographers than at their readers. Instead of seeing obituaries as a passive act of mourning, he envisions a form of public memory that regards the lives of the departed as an inspiration for a better future: ‘They are not dead, our benefactors and friends: for their souls, their contributions to the human race, their memories live on.’4 Herder conceives of humanity [Humanität] as a communal pursuit, aimed at the development of the potential inherent in humankind.
    [Show full text]
  • After Virtue: Once in Its Rank Orderingof the Virtues
    http://www.jstor.org/stable/3561072 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=hastings. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We work with the scholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The Hastings Center is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Hastings Center Report. http://www.jstor.org F:ROM HOMER TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN l The Nature of the Virtues by ALASDAIRMacINTYRE ourselves. For we would now seem to be saying that Ho- mer's concept of an arete, an excellence, is one thing and O ne responseto the historyof Greekand medieval that our concept of a virtue is quite anothersince a particu- thoughtabout the virtuesmight well be to suggest thateven lar qualitycan be an excellence in Homer's eyes, but not a within that relativelycoherent tradition of thoughtthere are virtue in ours and vice versa.
    [Show full text]
  • Franklin and Mesmer
    YALE JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 66 (1993), pp. 325-331 Copyright C 1994. All rights reserved. Franklin and Mesmer: An Encountera Claude-Anne Lopezb Papers ofBenjamin Franklin, Yale University New Haven, Connecticut (Submitted May 27, 1993; sent for revision July 9; received and accepted July 26, 1993) In 1784, as the Enlightenment was on the wane, Paris faced a debate in which reason confronted the supematural and the mysterious. Dr. Mesmer, a graduate of the medical school in Vienna, had been running a "magnetic clinic" based on the belief that magnetic fluid, flowing from the stars, permeated all living beings and that every disease was due to an obstruction in the flow. By manipu- lating that fluid, he launched the concept of animal as opposed to mineral mag- netism and claimed to cure all ills. This got him into trouble with the medical faculty, and in 1778 he emigrated to Paris, creating secret societies all over France. Six years later, mesmerism was considered a threat, possibly deleter- ious to both mind and body. Louis XVI appointed two commissions to investi- gate this likely fraud. Dr. Guillotin headed one; the other, made up of five members of the Academy of Sciences, included an astronomer and was headed by Franklin, American Ambassador to France. Both commissions concluded that the success of mesmerism was due to the manipulation of the imagination. Mesmer protested vigorously but in vain. He left France and died in obscurity in 1815. In the year 1784, the population of Paris watched in mounting excitement as the two most celebrated foreigners in its midst confronted each other in a debate that involved medicine and humanism.
    [Show full text]
  • Benjamin Franklin
    THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO BENJAMIN FRANKLIN EDITED BY CARLA MULFORD CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS c·AM~=~.U~!L.sJ.ItlRES S Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo, Delhi Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8Ru, UK Published in the United Stares of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/978052I69I864 © Cambridge University Press 2008 This ·publicatiön is in copyright. Subiect to statutorv exceotion and .;. t~·;tbe1Wpri~ipns of relevant collective licensing agreements, 1 00,~eproduction of any part may take place without the; S't~t!;~ermission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2008 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British ·Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data The Cambridge companion to Benjamin Franklin I edited by Carla Mulford. p. cm. - (Cambridge companions to American studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-o-52I-87I34-I (hardback) I. Franklin, Benjamin, I706-I790 - Political and social views. 2. Franklin, Benjamin, I706-I790 - Knowledge and learning. 3. Franklin, Benjamin, I706-I790 - Influence. 4. Statesmen - United States - Biography. 5. Scientists - United Stares - Biography. 6. United Stares - lntellectual life - I 8th century. 1. Mulford, Carla, I 9 5 5- II. Tide: Companion to Benjamin Franklin. III. Series. E302.6.F8C2I8 2008 973.3092-dc22 (B] 2008033470 ISBN 978-o-52I-87I34-I hardback ISBN 978-o-52I-69I86-4 paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party interner websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
    [Show full text]
  • Dalrev Vol82 Iss3 Authors.Pdf (175.3Kb)
    CONTRIBUTORS M>.RTiiA F. BoWDEN teaches English at Kennesaw State University. She has edited a collection of three novels by Mary Davys for the University Press of Kentucky, and she is currently working on a study of the Church of England in the time of Laurence Sterne. RicK BoWERS teaches English at the University of Alberta. His recent work on early modern literature and drama appears in English Studies in Canada, Hunting/on Library Quarterly and 7be Set·enteenth Cen­ tury. MICHAEI. CHAPPEU teaches English at Western Connecticut State University. He has published on pohtJCs m !:ohelley and Milton, and 1S workmg on a book on the impact of Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Johnson on eighteenth-century western culture. He summers in Pt. Lorne, NS, where the bay is blue, the rocks are smooth, and the fish is fresh. CHARLOTrE M. CRAIG has written widely on topics of eighteenth-century Ger­ man and interdisciplinary literature. She served as General Editor of the series 7be Enlightenment.. German and Interdisciplinary Studies, and on the Board of Officers of the :"ortheast-Aroerican Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies. She currently teaches at Rutgers Univer­ sity. MICHAEL FODOR reaches French at DartmoU!h College. He works on the rela­ tionships between literature and economic life in eighteenth-century France. NANCY E. ]OHNSON teaches English at the State University of New York, New Paltz. She has published on the English jacobin novel, the Anti-Jacobin novel, and law and literarure in the 1790s. She has forthcoming Vol. 6 of 7be Court journals and Lerters of Frances Burney, 1 790-june 1791.
    [Show full text]
  • Benjamin Franklin's Female and Male Pseudonyms: Sex, Gender, Culture, and Name Suppression from Boston to Philadelphia and Beyond
    Illinois Wesleyan University Digital Commons @ IWU Honors Projects History Department 2003 Benjamin Franklin's Female and Male Pseudonyms: Sex, Gender, Culture, and Name Suppression from Boston to Philadelphia and Beyond Jared C. Calaway '03 Illinois Wesleyan University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/history_honproj Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Calaway '03, Jared C., "Benjamin Franklin's Female and Male Pseudonyms: Sex, Gender, Culture, and Name Suppression from Boston to Philadelphia and Beyond" (2003). Honors Projects. 18. https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/history_honproj/18 This Article is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Commons @ IWU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this material in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This material has been accepted for inclusion by faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ©Copyright is owned by the author of this document. • Benjamin Franklin's Female and Male Pseudonyms Sex, Gender, Culture, and Name Suppression from Boston to Philadelphia and Beyond, 1722-1747 By Jared C. Calaway • "Historians relate, not so much what is done, as what they would have believed." -Richard Saunders [Benjamin Franklin], Poor Richard's Almanack, 1739­ • Introduction Ever since Benjamin Franklin wrote his autobiography, biographers throughout the centuries have molded him into the model American.
    [Show full text]
  • Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin Meet to Review a Draft of the Declaration of Independence
    Writing the Declaration of independence. the Declaration Writing Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863–1930), Ferris Gerome Jean Leon Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin meet to review a draft of the Declaration of Independence. The Role of Lawyers in the American Revolution christopher a. cole Christopher A. Cole ([email protected]) is an attorney in Alpine, Utah. hrough the ages, prophets have foreseen and testified of the divine mission Tof America as the place for the Restoration of the gospel in the latter days. Beginning with the European Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment, piece after piece of the Lord’s plan fell into place, ultimately leading to Joseph Smith’s First Vision in 1820. A review of colonial lawyers’ activities reveals their significant role in laying the groundwork for this long-awaited event. To the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord confirmed both the Revolutionary War and the founding of America as culminating preludes to the Restoration: “And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood” (D&C 101:80). President Joseph F. Smith put into perspective the import of this revela- tion to Joseph Smith. “This great American nation the Almighty raised up by the power of his omnipotent hand, that it might be possible in the latter days for the kingdom of God to be established on earth. If the Lord had not prepared the way by laying the foundations of this glorious nation, it would have been impossible (under the stringent laws and bigotry of the monarchial 47 48 Religious Educator · vol.
    [Show full text]
  • John Locke and the Declaration of Independence
    Cleveland State Law Review Volume 15 Issue 1 Mental Injury Damages Symposium Article 19 1966 John Locke and the Declaration of Independence Kenneth D. Stern Follow this and additional works at: https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/clevstlrev Part of the Legal History Commons How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! Recommended Citation Kenneth D. Stern, John Locke and the Declaration of Independence, 15 Clev.-Marshall L. Rev. 186 (1966) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at EngagedScholarship@CSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Cleveland State Law Review by an authorized editor of EngagedScholarship@CSU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. John Locke and the Declarationof Independence Kenneth D. Stern* 1 N AN ARTICLE published in the Journal of the American Bar Association in 1949, Dean Clarence Manion, then Dean of the College of Law of the University of Notre Dame, stated, "It is misleading to attribute the philosophy of the Declaration (of of John Locke." In support of his Independence) to the writings 2 contention, he quoted Locke's Second Treatise of Government, wherein Locke, in Section 95, states that once men enter into a community or government for the serving of their mutual interests, "the majority have the right to conclude the rest." Dean Manion feels that Locke thereby implies that the rights of minority groups and even of individuals are thus subordinated to the dictates of the majority. Dean Manion then quoted a letter written by Jefferson to Francis W. Gilmer on June 7, 1816, in which Jefferson said: Our legislators are not sufficiently apprised .
    [Show full text]
  • Commentary on the Death of Benjamin Franklin
    MAKING THE REVOLUTION: AMERICA, 1763-1791 PRIMARY SOURCE COLLECTION On the DEATH of BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 17 April 1790 ca. 1746 (age: early forties) 1778 (age 72) ca. 1787 (early eighties) * Benjamin Franklin’s death on April 17, 1790, was the nation’s first loss of a Founding Father. In failing health and unremitting pain for several years, Franklin had given his last service to his country as a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention. The Philadelphia printer, author of Poor Richard’s Almanac and countless satires and essays, signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, longtime representative to Britain and France, skillful negotiator of the peace treaty finalizing American independence, Franklin was buried in the Philadelphia Christ Church Burial Ground, next to his wife Deborah and near his son Folger who had died of smallpox as a child. Presented here are reports and tributes delivered in the two months after his death. What did they emphasize about Franklin as a man, a citizen, a pursuer of knowledge, and as a Founder of his country? Death of Benjamin Franklin, Philadelphia, 17 April 1790 The Federal Gazette, Philadelphia, 19 April 1790 Died on Saturday night, in the 85th year of his age, the illustrious BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. The world has been so long in possession of such extraordinary proofs of the singular abilities and virtues of this FRIEND OF MANKIND that it is impossible for a newspaper to increase his fame, or to convey his name to a part of the civilized globe where it is not already known and admired.
    [Show full text]
  • Readings in Sade, Balzac and Proust. Douglas Brian Saylor Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1988 The urM der of the Father: Readings in Sade, Balzac and Proust. Douglas Brian Saylor Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Saylor, Douglas Brian, "The urM der of the Father: Readings in Sade, Balzac and Proust." (1988). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 4538. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/4538 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photo­ graph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. UMI films the original text directly from the copy submitted. Thus, some dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from a computer printer. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyrighted material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are re­ produced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each oversize page is available as one exposure on a standard 35 mm slide or as a 17" x 23" black and white photographic print for an additional charge.
    [Show full text]
  • Impeachment and Assassination Josh Chafetz Cornell Law School, [email protected]
    Cornell Law Library Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository Cornell Law Faculty Publications Faculty Scholarship 12-1-2010 Impeachment and Assassination Josh Chafetz Cornell Law School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/facpub Part of the Constitutional Law Commons, and the Politics Commons Recommended Citation Chafetz, Josh, "Impeachment and Assassination" (2010). Cornell Law Faculty Publications. Paper 164. http://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/facpub/164 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Cornell Law Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Cornell Law: A Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Article Impeachment and Assassination Josh Chafetz† Introduction ............................................................................. 347 I. Caesar and Brutus ............................................................. 353 A. Franklin and Caesar ................................................... 353 B. Caesar and Brutus ....................................................... 356 C. The Meaning of Caesar for Franklin .......................... 361 II. Charles I and the Regicides; Buckingham and Felton ..... 367 A. Franklin and Charles .................................................. 367 B. Charles, Buckingham, and Felton .............................. 369 C. Charles After Buckingham
    [Show full text]
  • JHI 61.1 Sinkoff.Pm6
    Benjamin Franklin in Jewish Eastern Europe: Cultural Appropriation in the Age of the Enlightenment Nancy Sinkoff In 1808 an anonymous Hebrew chapbook detailing a behaviorist guide to moral education and self-improvement appeared in Lemberg, Austrian Galicia. Composed by Mendel Lefin of Satanów, an enlightened Polish Jew (maskil in the Hebrew terminology of the period), Moral Accounting (Sefer Heshbon ha- Nefesh) was a crucial weapon in Lefin’s lifelong literary war against Hasidism, the new Jewish pietistic movement which had captured the hearts and souls of much of eighteenth-century Polish Jewry.1 The core of Moral Accounting was a boxed grid, seven lines by thirteen, which correlated, respectively, to the days of the week and to thirteen virtues in need of improvement. The grid was to be used daily throughout a thirteen-week cycle which repeated four times during the course of a year. Addressing a traditionally-educated Jewish audience, Mendel Lefin did not disclose the gentile source of the method of moral self- reform, but he did acknowledge that it was not his innovation: “Several years ago a new method was revealed, and it is [such] a wonderful invention for this [kind] of [moral] education that it seems that its renown will spread as quickly, if God desires it, as that of the invention of printing which brought light to the I would like to thank Steven Kepnes, Jeffrey Shandler, Olga Litvak, and Gershon Hundert for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this essay. Research for this article was sup- ported by the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and the National Foundation for Jewish Culture.
    [Show full text]