1. Introduction You cannot legislate compassion. It’s an aphorism wryly acknowledged in political and legal circles. You can pass laws telling people what to do, but you cannot tell them how to feel. In broad terms, it’s a good thing: We don’t
Morality and justice
10 Things Blind People Do That Annoy Sighted People
Let me confess at the outset that this title is totally deceptive. I don’t plan to list ten such grievances. The title was inspired by “10 Things Sighted People Do That Annoy Me,” a video posted by Molly Burke, a 32-year-old blind motivational
Birthday Cake, Petulance and Harvard
Three seemingly disparate events came together for me the other morning. One was the time my Harvard Law School classmates celebrated my birthday during Contracts class. The second was an unintended slight that became the subject of a Zoom meeting.
Trump Musings
Note: Transcription of the President’s musings aloud, as recorded on Susan Wiles’s iPhone when Mr. Trump, drifting off with his eyes closed, was unaware another person was in the Oval Office. It was the day before Ms. Wiles’s unexpected departure
All Quiet on the Ilium Front
Why don’t leaders battle out their differences and claims between themselves instead of taking their entire nations to war? This question is raised in Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, (1929), which I re-read last week. It is
Revelation on a Steam Train
I said, “Can we open the window?” Sotto voce, Mum said, “The others probably want it closed.” It was the early 1960s. I was eight or nine and traveling with my family to England’s south coast in a steam train’s eight-passenger compartment. The