There’s no place like home, except when home is caught in a whirling tornado of foolishness

Churning like a Kansas twister, the winds of media, politics and popular culture blow a swirling gale of blustering opinion, vaporous policies, and airy notions of every kind. All the gusty posturing leaves us longing for the foundational wisdom one might learn growing up in a place like Kansas. But finding that in our foolish world seems less likely than being swept over the rainbow to a place where monkeys fly.

Clearly, we’re not in Kansas anymore.

The book’s title is a reference to the creatures in Dorothy’s dreamt Land of Oz who kidnapped and flew her to a scary showdown with the Wicked Witch of the West. The lessons of her encounters along the yellow brick road helped Dorothy burst the bubble (or echo chamber) of her tornado-induced dream world, returning home a bit wiser than when she left.

Maybe the sight of flying monkeys can wake us from today’s dreamy foolishness. Perhaps those monkeys might point out sophist tropes to burst their windy echoic bubbles, and hover beside wiser notions that inform rather than indoctrinate. With the clouds so dark, it’s time to take a flight to gain some of Dorothy’s insights.

Think and Speak for Yourself

Liberty of conscience VS Submission to cancel culture

Messy and uncomfortable as it can be at times, free thought and free speech are the sustaining power of civilization. The various stops on this flight address why all views are needed, including yours. Which is why failure to keep this habit is not an option.

Choose Freedom Over Comfort

Independence VS Serene serfdom

When there are barbarians at the gate, we prepare for battle to prevent them from taking our freedom. Yet when authoritarians arrive at the gate to offer their services, we attentively listen to a catalog of attractive promises that will cost us our freedom.

To prevent such ironic outcomes, we must keep the habit of choosing freedom over comfort.

Own Your Outcomes

Self-responsibility VS The victim mindset

Waiting for the world to make things right for you is a fool’s game.

It can’t.

The only practical response to a largely indifferent world is the habit of taking ownership- of both the circumstances you didn’t create and the outcomes that you must. Anything less is to be a mere passenger in a life that you should be driving.

Be Skeptical

Questioning VS Doting acceptance of authority

“Laws are like sausages. You should never see them made.” (Variously attributed)

Even so, we must exercise a habit of continuously challenging the presumptions of the sausage makers- both their policy recipes and concerning their suitability for the task of turning the crank. Unchallenged, those presumptions can turn out a dish that will leave you retching.

Confront Fashionable Nonsense

Calling out the ridiculous VS Woke indoctrination

When you feel ill-used by accepted norms it’s only natural to make up some new ones.

This flight examines whether we are abandoning ideas and standards for the better, or simply because the old ones recognize difficult realities that we now prefer to ignore. Knowing the difference requires the habit of confronting whatever nonsense is currently trending in the culture.

Put Away Childish Things

Shedding youthful notions VS Chronic naivete

When we remove the bubble-wrap encasing a delicate item it becomes subject to damage.

When we remove the bubble-wrap of naïve notions we also become subject to injury, at least of the emotional kind.

Yet, the habit of making full contact with the unchildish realities of life, however discomforting, is necessary to developing the opposite of naivete: Wisdom.

Treasure Individuals

Celebrating individuality VS Identity politics

Relationship, whether romantic, friend, family, colleague or other is both a center-point of life and its core source of conflict.

In reality, sometimes it’s you, and sometimes it’s me. This flight examines the nature of relationships, of human nature, and the ways that we often abuse our assumptions about groups of people rather than making a habit of cherishing the individuality of those people.

Live Consciously

Paying attention to the real VS Screen-numbed diversion

Every phone zombie you see walking along the street, eyes fixed only upon their screen, is testament to how disconnected we’ve become from authentic humanity.

This flight urges the habit of regularly reconnecting with your humanity to stave-off our self-made zombie apocalypse.

Seek Meaning

Pursuit of purpose VS Lazy nihilism

The life lived without deep meaning cannot provide fulfillment. The life lived with meaningful purpose cannot help but deliver it.

What deep meaning there is must be discovered by each of us in our own way, but that can only happen if we first make a habit of looking for it.

Embrace Adversity

Growing through challenge VS Learned helplessness

Like the three-legged dog, we have choices in our response to circumstance- to whimper in the corner or learn to run in a new way.

This final flight illustrates how, ultimately, your quality of life depends largely upon how you respond to the ordinary and extraordinary challenges of life. The habit of embracing adversity lets us reshape it, rather than being shaped by it.

Essay List