At college my three main interests were - in descending order of importance - a steady supply of recreational drugs, a 2-S draft deferment, and overthrowing the Nixon administration.

The poor are the only ones who suffer. And they're used to it.

When you're young, you don't feel iconoclastic - you're just kind of doing what seems natural, what moves you.

At some point free expression absolutism becomes childish and unserious.

In any event, it's not exactly a secret to regular readers what my views on the war are

I'm a pointillist, just working my tiny little piece of the canvas. I'm not so good at perspective.

Isn't it possible that self-esteem isn't causal at all, but simply the happy side effect of a sturdy character, itself the product of unambiguous moral education?