A galvanizing letter from a private-sector worker in Illinois.

Via John Derbyshire (emphasis added):

A lot of us, including a lot of conservatives (remarks by Mark Steyn and George Will come to mind) feel that we have become so bureaucratized, lawyered-up, regulated, and PC-whipped that great national projects of the past — the trans-continental railroad, the transformation of Manhattan, the interstate highway system, wars we can actually win in less than a decade, . . . — are no longer possible. Our system has seized up somehow, and no innovation much bigger than a hand-held gadget stands a chance.

*The right word, especially in this context.

Brian Riedl has a great article in National Review explaining so clearly that only a leftist intellectual could fail to understand. It's subscriber-only, but here's a brief summary from NCPA.

A reflection from Theodore Dalrymple.

Neil Gaiman explains, bluntly, to a correspondent.

(Via CAAF, who has similar but gentler-phrased thoughts.)

Later: I just realized what Gaiman's response makes me think of: William Shatner's "Get a life!" speech to Trekkies, from Saturday Night Live. I can't find a link to the whole thing, but here's some of it.

Lovely essay from Mary Schmich, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune who also writes the Brenda Starr comic strip. (One of her columns served as the text for this odd track, which I've always liked because of how good the "lyrics" are.)