“The Puritans thought they could simply repress man's sexual nature, and they reaped a whirlwind as a result. Their code of sexual morality - which became America's - was nothing more than a set of rules laid down by people who believed that all pleasure was suspect.” PeopleMenAmericaPleasureResultsMoralityCodeSuspectsPuritanWhirlwind Author:Hugh Hefner
“Most people, I suspect, still have in their minds an image of America as the great land of college education, unique in the extent to which higher learning is offered to the population at large. That image used to correspond to reality. But these days young Americans are considerably less likely than young people in many other countries to graduate from college. In fact, we have a college graduation rate that's slightly below the average across all advanced economies.” PeopleMindStillsCountryFactsRealityAmericaYoungUsedEconomyLandCollegeHigherUniqueRateAveragePopulationThese DaysSuspectsGraduatesOther CountriesCollege EducationCollege GraduationHigher Learning Author:Paul Krugman
“I am still baffled by those who feel that criticizing America is unpatriotic, a view increasingly being adopted in the United States since 9/11 as an excuse to render suspect what has always been an American right. An active, brave, outspoken (and heard) citizenry is essential to a healthy democracy.” FeelsStillsStatesAmericaUnitedViewsUnited StatesDemocracyHeardHealthyEssentialsBraveExcuseActiveSuspectsCriticizeAdoptedCitizenryOutspokenBaffledUnpatrioticBeing Adopted Book:My Life So Far Source: My Life So Far
“Intellectuals love Jefferson and hate markets, and intellectuals write most of the books. Intellectuals often think that they should, for the benefit of mankind, act as fiduciaries for the clods who don't have to be intellectuals, and I suspect that has to do with [why historians love Jefferson and not Hamilton, even though Hamilton's vision of America's commercial future was vastly more accurate than Jefferson's].” ThinkingShouldWritingBookAmericaHateVisionMankindBenefitsSuspectsHistorianAccurateHamilton Author:John Steele Gordon
“Her nomination for vice president in 2008 represents the most desperate inclinations of the Republican Party. In two hundred years, I suspect historians will use Palin as an example of how insane America became in the decade following the destruction of the World Trade Center, and her origin story will seem as extraterrestrial and eccentric as Abe Lincoln jumping out of a window to undermine a voting quorum in 1840.” WorldYearsTwoStoriesUseSeemsAmericaPresidentPartyExampleRepublicanHundredWindowDestructionTradeVicesFollowingDecadesInsaneDesperateVotingSuspectsHistorianRepublican PartyJumpingInclinationEccentricVice PresidentPalinNominationsWorld TradeWorld Trade CenterExtraterrestrialAbe Book:I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined) Source: I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined)