Thomas V. Ward

“I will go up to the Goodwill-necktied Jesuit and say, ‘Hello. My name is Iñigo Loyola. You killed my Company. Prepare to do penance’.”

[Thomas V. Ward @wardroom]

@PlotWeaver A rare outcome

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

The average national constitution lasts about 19 years. The United States has used the same one since 1789, which makes it the oldest working national constitution on Earth.

That gap is the anomaly the original post is talking about. Since 1789 the world has produced close to 800 national constitutions, and only about half of them lasted past 19 years. France is the sharpest contrast. It started at the same line as America, and since then it has gone through five separate republics, two empires, a couple of monarchies, and at least fourteen constitutions. It is on version five right now, written back in 1958. The next-oldest national constitution still in use belongs to Norway, and it only dates to 1814, a full 25 years behind.

Most attempts at a lasting written government fall apart inside a single generation. America's has held through a civil war, two world wars, a depression that put about a quarter of workers out of a job, and 27 amendments, without ever being thrown out and started over.

About 4% of humanity lives inside US borders, and they produce close to a quarter of the world's economic output measured at market prices. The American economy is bigger than the next three put together, China and Germany and Japan combined. Eight of the ten biggest public companies on the planet, ranked by market value, are American. US stock markets alone hold a little over 40% of all the equity value on Earth.

None of that was ever the default setting for human societies. For most of recorded history the normal ending was collapse, conquest, coup, or a slow decline into something you would not recognize. Stable money, peaceful handovers of power, and courts that last longer than the people who built them are the rare exception, not the normal starting point.

When a system runs this smoothly for this long, the stability starts to feel like gravity, like the normal way things are. The historical record says the opposite. What looks completely ordinary from inside America is one of the least likely things a large group of people has ever built and kept going.

[Thomas V. Ward @wardroom]

@latinedisce Verbum unum

[Eric Daugherty @EricLDaugh]

🚨 JUST IN: The full Florida legislature is about to vote on PASSING Gov. Ron DeSantis' abolishment of property taxes for most primary homeowners

The homestead exemption is SWIFTLY raised to $250,000 and scheduled for full termination 🔥

DeSantis says Florida has so many funds they can create a STATE TRUST FUND for police, fire, etc. at the local level

Other states are also looking at property tax relief

MAKE IT A NATIONAL TREND! 🇺🇸

[Thomas V. Ward @wardroom]

@carleolson Count on it

[Thomas V. Ward @wardroom]

@JimenaMarie005 NP; thanks for sharing

[Thomas V. Ward @wardroom]

@JimenaMarie005 More pics!

[Ralston College @RalstonCollege]

The warmest and happiest congratulations to our fourth cohort, who graduated from their MA in the Humanities this weekend, receiving their degrees by the hand of our new Chancellor, Dr Iain McGilchrist.
(Full picture gallery to follow soon!)

[Thomas V. Ward @wardroom]

@carleolson Get well soon!

[War Correspondent @warDaniel47]

🚨 BREAKING: Rep. Tim Burchett demands term limits after Sen. Mitch McConnell looks SHOCKED when he's asked, "Why are you blocking the SAVE America Act?"

BURCHETT: "Pass the Save America Act and then let’s talk about some Term Limits."

He's right.

GET OUT OF THE WAY and PASS election integrity! 🇺🇸

[Thomas V. Ward @wardroom]

@DHiddenness @caseybogs I enjoyed your posts and am sad to see you go; hopefully not for good. My experience wasn’t as severe, but I know a bit of what you speak, and have learned to live with the cognitive dissonance. (Mostly.) DM me if you want to correspond out of band. Prayers

[Ben Owen™️ @hrkbenowen]

Retweet if you’d like to see @JimmyKimmelLive fired.

@ABC and @Disney are tagged.

[Antigone Journal @AntigoneJournal]

Time for the Antigone Spring Books Give-away! 40+ books and pamphlets on offer worldwide. Just repost this message and follow us, and on Sunday 3 names will be drawn. 1st chooses 20 things, 2nd 12, 3rd gets the rest. We'll add details of the items over coming days. Good luck all!

[Thomas V. Ward @wardroom]

@carleolson @WSJ Amen - ain’t the same publication it once was

[Thomas V. Ward @wardroom]

@SoulCultivated Quite Frabjous!

[Thomas V. Ward @wardroom]

@SoulCultivated Nah - got lucky. Hit the Jackpot at a Half Price Books after a seller had just brought in some gently-used

[Thomas V. Ward @wardroom]

@FrDylanSchrader Was it Fr Dwight Longenecker?

[Thomas V. Ward @wardroom]

@60Minutes Switch to Latin and the Mass count will skyrocket

[Thomas V. Ward @wardroom]

@carleolson I *knew* there were some more hiding around here!