From FT, people have the right to choose to live wherever suits them. But when they choose to live in cities, the rest of us benefit. Why, then, are we so keen to pay them to stay in the countryside? The Simple Life: A look at why we should all be more like the Amish. A review of Richistan: A Journey Through the American Wealth Boom and the Lives of the New Rich by Robert Frank and Age of Betrayal: The Triumph of Money in America, 1865-1900 by Jack Beatty. From the Mises Institute, a look at why the miser hurts no one but herself. In an impressive new book, The Social Conscience, Michel Glautier asks a simple question: can a caring society exist in a market economy?
An interview with Benjamin Barber, author of Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole. A childish panic about the next generation: Many of those fretting over the state of contemporary childhood, concerned that kids are passive, cooped up and sedentary, are motivated by naked nostalgia - sometimes even by snobbery. Who's Your Nanny? Here's a crash course on the politics of nannying in the US. Where the Boys Aren’t: Latin? Poetry? Knots? A not too dangerous book, The Dangerous Book for Boys, sounds like a scary movie. A review of Hopscotch and handbags: The Essential Guide to Being a Girl by Lucy Mangan (and more).
Jeremy A. Blumenthal (Syracuse): Abortion, Persuasion, and Emotion: Implications of Social Science Research on Emotion for Reading Casey. An op-ed on the quiet campaign against birth control. From TNR, why the Dems should not shut up about gays and marriage vows. Are civil unions a 600-year-old tradition? A study reviews historical evidence, including documents and gravesites, suggesting that homosexual civil unions may have existed six centuries ago in France. From Nerve's "History of Single Life", an article on Casanova. From Forbes, a special report on the Best Cities For Singles, and Stop Singlism! Discrimination against the unwed may be the last socially acceptable prejudice in America. I kid you not: Why are the childless considered freaks? Frankly, they're doing themselves and society a big favour.
