Ricochet Membership Week: Paul Rahe

 

All of our content at Ricochet, from the posts to the podcasts, is ultimately dependent on you, the reader. The revenue that we receive from people who sign up for a Ricochet membership allows us to keep this place humming — and to provide a forum for civil conversation unlike any other on the web. Making sure that these memberships continue to grow is a vital part of keeping Ricochet vibrant and healthy. All this week, we’ll be publishing testimonials about the site’s value from some of our most respected contributors (and — this being Ricochet — we invite our members to start similar threads on the Member Feed) to tell you why you should be a member if you’re not already (and why you should upgrade your membership if you already are). We begin this week with this note from Paul Rahe, Professor of History at Hillsdale College and longtime Ricochet contributor:

rahe1I have been writing now for Ricochet for something like four years. I do so because there is nothing quite like it. Ricochet allows me to think out loud, to try out arguments. The worst that can happen to me is that I learn something that I did not know. The Code of Conduct and the simple fact that one must pay a monthly pittance to join eliminates comments that are vile and reduces enormously the number that are merely insulting. What remains is argument — more often than not interesting argument. The community of members is large. It includes Americans (and non-Americans) from every walk of life. They frequently know things that I do not know — things that confirm the hunch that caused me to write in the first place or that disprove my point. In short, when I write a post, I initiate a conversation. When I comment on someone else’s post, I join a conversation — and the conversation is frequently informative and entertaining. Sometimes it is downright hilarious — and I often find that I want to meet my fellow members, which I have done in Manhattan, in Silicon Valley, in Los Angeles, and right here in Hillsdale, Michigan, where everyone shows up sooner or later.

That sense of community is exactly what we’re trying to foster on the site. And we want you to be a part of it. Why wait? Sign up and join Ricochet today!

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There are 19 comments.

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  1. user_1050 Member
    user_1050
    @MattBartle

    I think every membership pitch should include the words “monthly pittance”.

    • #1
  2. Peter Robinson Contributor
    Peter Robinson
    @PeterRobinson

    God bless Paul Rahe.  I mean that.  Really.  God bless him.  No one else combines such erudition with such elegance of thought and prose with such largeness of heart.

    • #2
  3. Frozen Chosen Inactive
    Frozen Chosen
    @FrozenChosen

    Thanks for being in the mix, Paul

    • #3
  4. Fricosis Guy Listener
    Fricosis Guy
    @FricosisGuy

    Always enjoy a Prof. Rahe post or pod appearance. One knows he’ll engage the Ricochetti in the comments, so it’s a double-dip treat.

    Cheers!

    • #4
  5. AIG Inactive
    AIG
    @AIG

    Peter Robinson:God bless Paul Rahe. I mean that. Really. God bless him. No one else combines such erudition with such elegance of thought and prose with such largeness of heart.

    [Redacted for CoC]

    • #5
  6. Frank Soto Member
    Frank Soto
    @FrankSoto

    AIG:

    Peter Robinson:God bless Paul Rahe. I mean that. Really. God bless him. No one else combines such erudition with such elegance of thought and prose with such largeness of heart.

    [Redacted for CoC]

    Speaking of the merely insulting…

    • #6
  7. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    Dr. Rahe brought me to Ricochet in the first place.  I am looking forward to meeting him in person some time.

    As far as I am concerned, Ricochet is ALL good.

    • #7
  8. AIG Inactive
    AIG
    @AIG

    Frank Soto: Speaking of the merely insulting…

    Constructive criticism is what I prefer to call it. Not the same thing as insult, not by far. But of course, that’s all relative to one’s tolerance to criticism.

    • #8
  9. Vance Richards Inactive
    Vance Richards
    @VanceRichards

    I don’t know. He is saying nice things, but he sure doesn’t look happy.

    • #9
  10. Kay of MT Inactive
    Kay of MT
    @KayofMT

    Please Dr. Rahe, would you invite,

    “Robert J. Avrech: Emmy Award winning screenwriter. Religious Zionist. Republican. Movie fanatic. Gun owner. Helplessly and hopelessly in love with my wife since age nine.”

    http://www.seraphicpress.com/

    You would thoroughly appreciate his article today:

    When HomoFascists Meet IslamoNazis

    • #10
  11. user_517406 Inactive
    user_517406
    @MerinaSmith

    We’re so glad you’re here.  I always appreciate your thoughtful posts and the news about Hillsdale.

    • #11
  12. Fricosis Guy Listener
    Fricosis Guy
    @FricosisGuy

    AIG:

    Peter Robinson:God bless Paul Rahe. I mean that. Really. God bless him. No one else combines such erudition with such elegance of thought and prose with such largeness of heart.

    [Redacted for CoC]

    I disagree with this redaction. The comment was impolite and pointed, but AIG’s point was aimed at Prof. Rahe’s expertise.

    • #12
  13. user_348375 Member
    user_348375
    @

    He’s not trying to look happy; that’s his “erudite” look.  I like it, and I also automatically read everything he posts on this fine site.

    • #13
  14. The King Prawn Inactive
    The King Prawn
    @TheKingPrawn

    Thanks for being here, Paul. I do enjoy your writing and the discussions your engender. Perhaps one day I’ll finish reading that book you have in your lap.

    • #14
  15. Frank Soto Member
    Frank Soto
    @FrankSoto

    AIG:

    Frank Soto: Speaking of the merely insulting…

    Constructive criticism is what I prefer to call it. Not the same thing as insult, not by far. But of course, that’s all relative to one’s tolerance to criticism.

    A constructive critique includes an actual correction, not simply a declaration that someone is unreliable when it comes to a certain subject.

    • #15
  16. AIG Inactive
    AIG
    @AIG

    Frank Soto: A constructive critique includes an actual correction, not simply a declaration that someone is unreliable when it comes to a certain subject.

    The actual corrections are left for the actual posts made on the topic, which I have made. I never said anything about him being “unreliable”. Mine was a rather much simpler point than that.

    Either way, no problem.

    • #16
  17. user_1029039 Inactive
    user_1029039
    @JasonRudert

    Good. I’m glad it’s not a problem.

    • #17
  18. user_44643 Inactive
    user_44643
    @MikeLaRoche

    Paul Rahe is a national treasure.

    • #18
  19. user_657161 Member
    user_657161
    @

    Just having him on the team makes me (feel) smarter.

    • #19
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