A R C H I V E

I find myself drawn to the principles of Cliodynamics as I reflect on contemporary events, such as the significance of Trump’s re-election and regime changes afoot in France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and South Korea. The map of the entire Middle East is being redrawn after Israel morphed from an injured cornered animal to become a regional power with the potential to disrupt the world power balance.

Cliodynamics is the application of a dynamical systems approach to the social sciences in general and the study of historical dynamics in particular. More specifically, in End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration, Peter Turchin defines Cliodynamics as an area of research that integrates cultural evolution, economics, macro sociology, and mathematical modeling of historical processes to explain the rise and fall of empires, population booms and busts, and the spread and disappearance of religions.

In my interpretation, the pendulum's swing causes kinetic energy to convert to potential energy and capital to cede power to labor. This cyclical phenomenon is often marked by a clear tipping point akin to the decline of the progressive woke movement following Donald Trump's election…

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Please allow me to share my vision for City Club as a Securus Locus and your home away from home. I hope you will resonate with this vision and be equally committed to its manifestation as your shelter from the storm in an otherwise challenging and uncertain world.

City Club’s foundation is a safe and embracing place, providing delicious and healthy food in a beautiful and functional work environment. This process entails completing the 46-year arduous task of renovating the historic Highland School into a private social, business, and dining club. We now plan to build on that foundation by expanding our operating team in the new year with the addition of full-time baristas and bartenders, along with a third team member for the kitchen, service, and concierge teams. Once this expanded team is in place and fully trained, we plan to hire an Operations Manager, hoping he or she can grow into a General Manager.

Combining Boxcar Coffee, Dry Storage baked goods, and Kinship Bread makes City Club an ideal place for breakfast and afternoon gatherings, inside or in our award-winning gardens. Chef Tim Cook plans to launch a new All-Day Menu that will rival the best appetizers, lunches, and early dinners in Boulder…

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Wow! Such an amazing year:

President-elect Donald Trump is Time Magazine’s Man of the Year; Elon Musk is the richest and most influential global citizen; Ukraine is still holding; Russia is bleeding; Israel went from surprised prey to a regional force on the verge of destroying Hamas, eradicating Hezbollah, causing regime change in Syria, threatening Iran, and potentially causing the downfall of Putin.

Meanwhile, at City Club, we have managed our way through many challenges. First, we fully recovered from the pandemic. Then, we completed the five-year project to plan, design, and expand our kitchen and bar as part of Highland's transformation from a one-time abandoned school to a private social, business, and dining club. The search for and hiring of Chef Tim Cook is an integral part of our newly expanded kitchen and all-day food program…

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I am fascinated by Judaism. Born Jewish, I have spent a lifetime trying to figure out what that means and have concluded that Jews are the canaries in the mine; what happens to them today may be a harbinger of what’s ahead for humanity tomorrow. As such, there’s gold in figuring out what the Jews will do to survive and thrive.

A hundred years ago, Berlin, Germany, was the safest place for Jews to live, work, teach, compose music, advance science, and make money. Within twenty years, they were dying in gas chambers and burning in industrial ovens, followed by WWII and the consequent death of nearly a hundred million innocent souls. But, after eighty years of global peace and prosperity, we now find that “Never Again” has become just a slogan, that the world is divided again, and the Jews are somehow to blame.

As the state of Israel fights for its survival on seven fronts, the International Criminal Court has accused it of genocide and issued an arrest warrant for its Prime Minister. In Amsterdam, Paris, and London, Jews are advised not to be seen in public for their safety. In America, the Ivy League campuses are set aflame in the name of anti-Zionism. Even so, fewer than eighty years into this experiment called Israel, this one-time desert has morphed into the fruit basket of the Middle East and a start-up nation commanding the world’s eighth most powerful military force. Nevertheless, storm clouds remain…

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It may not be an accident that the Thanksgiving holidays follow our elections, giving us a chance to think, reflect, and digest what just happened, why, and how.

Last week, while in Florida, I had the opportunity to rest, relax, and give thanks for another peaceful presidential election, which was held out as one of the most contentious and consequential in our lives. Afterward, there were no tanks on the roads, blood in the streets, or weeks-long legal or political fights over the result. Our country, while still divided, was not shattered.

Donald Trump and the Republican party clearly won this election, if not by a landslide, with a clear mandate for change. I don't pretend to understand exactly how and why it happened, so I chose to solicit differing opinions. They say that over time, we become the average of the five people closest to us, so I strived to seek the opinions of people I respected to gain a more comprehensive view of the political landscape. Here, in no particular order:..

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Without tradition, we’d all be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof.

Tradition is the bedrock of every culture and religion. Every year, we celebrate Christmas and America's Independence Day, not only during good times but even when faced with unprecedented internal and external challenges. The Thanksgiving tradition is a great opportunity to adopt an attitude of gratitude even when we struggle to find something for which to be thankful.

And so it is this year. Call it what you will – "A Hinge in History" or the classic "Fourth Turning." Inflation, continuing wars in Ukraine and Israel, antisemitism and the globalization of Antifata, Donald Trump’s historic re-election as the 47th President of the United States, and the chaos it may cause, are all troubling signs…

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Philosophy is the study of fundamental truths about the world, ourselves, and our relationships. Simply stated, philosophy is "the love of wisdom."

The Greek Stoics of 2400 years ago approached life’s problems backward and asked: Knowing we will die soon, is the problem we face today significant in the long term? 

Assuming we are lucky and resourceful, we must then ask, how should we enjoy the fruits of our life’s labor before we die? What should a successful “retirement” look like? 

Some people’s ideal retirement plan is a life of leisure, waiting for 5 pm to roll around for their first cocktail. Others take up golf, tennis, and travel or strive to become coaches, mentors, or philanthropists. The Greeks believed an ideal retirement entailed the accumulation of knowledge and wisdom. In short, one should strive to become a philosopher.

But how does one accumulate wisdom in a world dominated by TikTok and Instagram, with attention spans of under a minute?…

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Otto Von Bismark said, “Politics is the art of the possible.”

In the jungle, might makes right. It is hard to fathom that today, most humans are still governed by dictators and despots who rule through fear and force. Our Founding Fathers strived to devise a better system to govern ourselves with minimum violence. Notwithstanding the ugliness of politics, the backstabbing, cheating, physical fights on the floor of Congress, deadly duels, and a devastating civil war, the American system has survived 248 years and 47 presidential elections.

Though imperfect on many fronts, this is the best and longest-lasting system of government man has devised, which is why millions of immigrants risk their lives to join it…

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After nearly five years of planning, design, permitting, and construction, we are pleased to unveil our expanded state-of-the-art kitchen and bar. Like the cherry on a Sunday, these projects are capped off with the arrival and installation of our new La Marzocco espresso machine, hand-made in Florence, Italy. Many consider La Marzocco the Ferrari of espresso machines. It enables us to serve world-class espressos, cappuccinos, lattes, and other exotic coffee drinks. 

With Dustin in charge of the Club and Chef Tim Cook settled in the new kitchen, effective January 1, 2025, we plan to launch a new All-Day Menu that rivals the best food in Colorado, served anywhere within the Club or To Go, at a fraction of restaurant cost. As a private club, we can accommodate our members’ personal preferences, whether by taking orders in person or through your Mobile App, in accordance with your particular tastes or preferences.

Additionally, we are excited to announce a new partnership with Dry Storage Bakery to expand our baked goods, pastry, and dessert service to complement our famous homemade granola so you can treat yourself and your Guests to the best coffee, baked goods, and pastry service in Boulder…

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If a bar in Paris can establish a hundred-year tradition of accurately predicting American Presidential elections, it may be time for City Club to get in on the act.

As a Securus Locus, City Club has been an ideal safe place for our members to discuss politics during this “historic” and “most important election of our lifetime.” According to a Times/Siena poll, three-quarters of American voters say democracy is under threat, and nearly half say it does not accurately represent the American public.

With the election in a dead heat, half the population thinks Donald Trump is a Fascist, while the other half thinks Kamala Harris is a Socialist. Trump is too confident about everything, and Harris is too invasive about everything. The idea that America’s decline is inevitable has been in vogue since the 1920s when the industrialist Armand Hammer promoted the idea that the future belongs to the Soviet Socialists. In the 1930s, Charles Lindbergh saw Hitler’s Germany as the emerging global power. In the 1970s, Japan’s rising sun and industrial efficiency were destined to overshadow American Capitalism. Today, many believe Communist China’s central planning will overtake America’s chaotic approach to governing…

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America, having prevailed in WWII with an iron will and a steel backbone, at a significant cost of blood and treasure, changed the name of its Department of War in 1949 to the Department of Defense. Since then, we have managed to fight and lose four wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

In 1979, America withdrew its support of the Shah of Iran, paving the way for fanatic Ayatollahs to come to power, take 52 Americans hostage for over a year, and enable the killing of thousands of our Marines and soldiers in Lebanon and Iraq. Amidst chants of “Death to America; Death to Israel,” the Iranian regime has financed Hamas and Hezbollah to form a “Ring of Fire” around Israel while developing the nuclear capacity and sophisticated long-range cruise missile delivery systems capable of obliterating Israel, which they consider to be “a one bomb State.”

America appears fickle when pro-Hamas university students on campus chant “From the River to the Sea” and accuse Israel of “genocide” while not caring about America’s invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11. But these same people are now against the idea of Israel defending itself after Hamas brutally raped, burned, and murdered 1200 innocent Israeli citizens and remain largely silent in the face of Israel’s elimination of Nasrallah in Lebanon and Sinwar in Gaza, both of whom were terrorists with American blood on their hands…

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I love my annual tradition of the Yom Kippur fast because it affords me the chance to slow down and have a day of reflection. We regularly feed our physical, intellectual, and emotional bodies by eating, reading, and socializing, so why not feed our spiritual bodies by fasting and taking time to reflect?

At a time when the State of Israel is fighting for its survival on seven fronts, it is important to ask what it means to be a Jew and how could this tiny minority of the global population survive longer than any other nation, culture, or empire. How can Jews, despite all the pogroms and anti-Semitism directed against them, not only survive but bench press above their weight when it comes to education, wealth, and power?

Israel (IS.RA.EL) is the derivative of the Hebrew word Yisra'el, which literally means he who struggles with god. Jews constantly struggle with the concept of god, right and wrong, good and evil. Unlike other people who covet territory, wealth, and natural resources, all the Jews got was a book, hence the joke, “Put two Jews in a room, and you will get three opinions.”…

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Though realists by nature, Stoics are optimists by necessity. Through great suffering, a Stoic eventually learns that “the obstacle is the way.” How we are molded by life’s difficult journey is more important than the eventual destination we reach.

John Stuart Mills learned to seek happiness by limiting rather than satisfying his desires. The lesson that less is more and small is beautiful is not limited to the Hippie.

Only after we come to terms with the reality of pain and suffering as an integral part of the human experience can we hone Jefferson’s notion of our God-given right to pursue happiness into a more nuanced view that such pursuit is a matter of our focus and choice...

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