Sunday, November 21, 2004

An Excerpt: Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

“I am a sick man…. I am a spiteful man. I am a most unpleasant man.”

“…the most intense pleasures occur in despair….”

Absolutely.

Monday, November 15, 2004

Excerpt from my essay on a marginalized figure in U.S. history

Andrew Jackson is not the first man that most people think of when asked about a marginalized figure in history. Perhaps because he was not marginalized and even his minor accomplishments have been built by historians into towering victories with little mention given to his failures. Many a historian's eyes will gleam as he talks about how Jackson faced down the Bank, but his achievements also include the systematic and brutal destruction of the Creek people and the arrogant flouting of supreme court rulings in favor of Georgian Indians.

Most people think of marginalized figures as members of minority groups like women, blacks, and indians. Jackson was the man who marginalized thses groups. Except women. Jackson loved women, especially former prostitutes.