Lazarus and the Rich Man

The United States and many other Western nations are at a crossroads. Free speech is dying, and if it dies, so will many other things.

Why did some nations emerge and thrive at a specific point in time, while others remained quite primitive and mired in poverty? How did tiny Britain manage to assemble a global empire, and why did America become the greatest nation on the face of the earth? Why is Australia called the “Lucky Country” and why did South Africa and other British territories develop and prosper, while other nations are still struggling to develop?

Entertainment is not what it used to be. But are we paying a price for the “upgrade”? For example, compare the recent DC films to the 1960s “Batman” television series. Some modern superhero ensembles such as “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Justice League” differ dramatically from the campy shows of yesteryear. While the 1960s television series’ tone was brightly colored and intentionally goofy and fun, the more recent films are dark and brooding, and, in the case of “Batman v Superman,” criticized as humorless.

As the story goes, a young lieutenant travelled east from Winnipeg in August 1914, at the start of World War I. Harry Colebourn, a veterinary surgeon, was on his way to join the Canadian Expeditionary Force when he saw a young bear cub at a train station in White River, Ontario. The hunter who had killed the mother bear sold him the cub for $20, and Colebourne named her Winnipeg, after his hometown.