Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
It’s sobering to realize that eight years have passed since New York and Washington, DC, were attacked on September 11, 2001. Something that happened that long ago, and is already the subject of numerous documentaries, is history. The more time passes, the more the official version of events is accepted, and the less plausible any alternative version becomes. This fact … >>
If you don’t know how many states are in the United States, here’s an easy way to remember. This Friday marks exactly 50 years since America added its final, 50th, state: Hawaii. The country was ready: the growing availability of air travel in the 1960s made Hawaii a popular vacation spot for those who could afford it. Those who couldn’t … >>
This summer seems like it’s been the summer of death. The Grim Reaper has claimed one of Charlie’s Angels, a 50-year-old kid who’d held a baby out a window, a defense secretary who’d been responsible for the Vietnam War, and an Irish-American author who, in old age, was still complaining about his awful childhood. Now the most trusted man in … >>
If Barack Obama had told me he was going to Ghana, I would have warned him. The country is a dump — parts of it quite literally. In the late 1990s, I knew it as a place where very little functioned as it should have. The currency was worthless. Families often had 10 or even 14 children. Garbage was simply … >>
Going to a gym has many obvious benefits, but also some that are not obvious. For example, at my gym you can watch six television screens, each showing a different channel, at the same time. It’s something I can’t do at home. So there I was the other night, dividing my attention between news reports about Iran and my favorite … >>
Poland, 1990: Ten years after demonstrations by the Solidarity trade union, political reform had arrived. Poland was finally a democracy. But my friend from Gdańsk wasn’t happy — and it was my fault. “You had the chance,” Tadeusz said. “Solidarity was gaining power. The food shortages frightened Prime Minister Jaruzelski. Public pressure would have forced him to resign. But instead, … >>
On the day this article goes online, I won’t be at work. Nor will most Europeans, because it’s the Christian feast of the Ascension. Americans, on the other hand, will celebrate Memorial Day this same weekend (on Monday, May 25), a secular holiday remembering those who died in military service. In this respect, the two sides of the Atlantic could … >>
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” wrote one of America’s great philosophers, Benjamin Franklin, in 1789. In our time, conservative populists have often tried to prove him wrong. It’s an easy way to get votes: tell people their government is stealing from them and needs to be replaced. “It’s your money” is … >>
A few years ago, author Tom Friedman talked about a trip he’d taken to Tehran. Demonstrators passed by his hotel, shouting “Death to America!” Friedman asked one of them why so many people hated his country. The Iranian told him that he didn’t hate America at all; in fact, he has family in the US and would like to go … >>