"Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one." –Marcus Aurelius
My wife and I – following the advice here – have been holding a weekly ‘marriage meeting’ for several months now. I’d like to share how that has worked for us. I’d definitely recommend it to any married couples, but especially young married couples who are learning to live with each other. Marriage is not…
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. – 1 Corinthians 13:11 One of the parts of modern life that I find most disturbing is the gradual infantilization of adulthood. People’s life…
Recently, I was talking to a friend of mine. He’s getting married soon, and is getting a little tired of the process of planning the wedding. He told me that he’s not sure that it is worth it because he doesn’t know how much more he would enjoy the ceremony than simply eloping or doing…
When I was a kid self-esteem began to be promoted in schools. A lot of adults seemed to have a problem with it, but almost nothing is more conformist to the next idea than education. It’s a part of teachers’ identity to always be doing the next thing. So it stuck. At the time, I…
I have no children, and my wife isn’t even pregnant yet. But we will start trying in 2020. And it’s interesting how this theoretical fatherhood is already having a big effect on my life. I don’t mean in terms of shopping for baby clothes. I mean in terms of my own identity and concerns. It’s…
My wife and I are ready to start our family, and I’ve been thinking a lot about raising children in modern America. Traveling through Europe has also given me cause to think about the differences. I can remember reading a news story back in the 2000s about a Danish mom in America getting in trouble…
Let’s talk insurance again – this time, life insurance. How does it work, and who should have it? Life insurance is, of course, something you get because you are betting that you will die soon (or your wife wants to make that bet…). Just kidding. It is still based on life and death. Like all…
“We can chart our future clearly and wisely only when we know the path which has led to the present.” Human beings are unique in being able to learn from the experience of others. We are also highly social beings unable to function without having a place in a group. We need to know who…
In a previous article, we talked about knowing your cash flow and how its possible variations might affect you. One way to mitigate the risk of needing a lot more money than usual in one month is to have an emergency fund. This shouldn’t be news – I know of no school of thought in…
This is the first in a series of articles about insurance, which is a large expense that everyone has to deal with. Everyone meaning us Americans, as much of this doesn’t apply to other developed nations. In much poorer and less developed nations your safety is your friends and family; in other developed nations it’s…