American Culture Archives - Vincent Ryan Ruggiero Official website - Author https://mind-at-work.com/essays/american-culture/ Vincent Ryan Ruggiero - Author of books and essays Sat, 04 May 2024 13:46:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://mind-at-work.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/cropped-open-book-32x32.png American Culture Archives - Vincent Ryan Ruggiero Official website - Author https://mind-at-work.com/essays/american-culture/ 32 32 Nonsense Is STILL Destroying America https://mind-at-work.com/nonsense-is-still-destroying-america/ Sat, 04 May 2024 13:46:55 +0000 https://mind-at-work.com/?p=5887 Warning: Nonsense is Destroying America was published thirty years ago, in 1994. I introduced it with these words: "Books warn of the destruction of the ozone layer, the befouling of the earth's lakes, rivers, and seas, the devastation of the rain forests, the eradication of animal species. Warning labels are emblazoned on cigarette boxes, beer [...]

The post Nonsense Is STILL Destroying America appeared first on Vincent Ryan Ruggiero Official website - Author.

]]> The Decline of Thinking in America https://mind-at-work.com/the-decline-of-thinking-in-america/ Sat, 23 Apr 2022 15:49:42 +0000 https://mind-at-work.com/?p=4880         Late one night many years ago, my college roommate awakened me with the announcement that he had just written a profound essay and wanted me to read it right away while the “ink was still fresh.” I stumbled over to his desk, looked at the typed page and saw [...]

The post The Decline of Thinking in America appeared first on Vincent Ryan Ruggiero Official website - Author.

]]> One Ramp Agent, Two Dogs, and American Culture https://mind-at-work.com/one-ramp-agent-two-dogs-and-american-culture/ Sat, 28 Aug 2021 17:50:18 +0000 https://mind-at-work.com/?p=4554 Like thousands of lower forty-eight Americans, I had long wanted to visit Alaska someday. That time recently arrived for me and the visit was every bit as enjoyable as I had hoped. Anchorage, Seward, and Homer were, in different but complementary ways, delightful. Denali Park was breathtaking at every winding turn. I saw a couple [...]

The post One Ramp Agent, Two Dogs, and American Culture appeared first on Vincent Ryan Ruggiero Official website - Author.

]]> Toilet Paper and the Human Intellect, Part 2 https://mind-at-work.com/toilet-paper-and-the-human-intellect-part-2/ Sat, 28 Mar 2020 15:49:10 +0000 https://mind-at-work.com/?p=3824  Rodin's The Thinker Part 1 of this essay began by noting the strange but amusing behavior of many Americans to the Coronavirus—rushing out and buying toilet paper. It ended by recalling Christopher Morley’s observation that humor can reveal how important and unimportant things “are most oddly jumbled in everyday affairs.” In between the [...]

The post Toilet Paper and the Human Intellect, Part 2 appeared first on Vincent Ryan Ruggiero Official website - Author.

]]> Toilet Paper and the Human Intellect https://mind-at-work.com/toilet-paper-and-the-human-intellect/ Sat, 21 Mar 2020 20:11:34 +0000 https://mind-at-work.com/?p=3815                                  Rodin's The Thinker If an explorer from another galaxy happened to visit the U.S. within the last few weeks, she would surely have been puzzled at one public reaction to the Coronavirus—rushing out and buying toilet paper in [...]

The post Toilet Paper and the Human Intellect appeared first on Vincent Ryan Ruggiero Official website - Author.

]]>