Herbert Rothschild: People live in hell because they live in the world without recognizing its darkness. People live in purgatory because they recognize the darkness and refuse to seek their fulfillment on its terms.

Herbert Rothschild: Is Trump correct? Is the U.S. populace as morally bankrupt as he? Are we so in love with power that winning is all that matters?

Herbert Rothschild: Then, in 2008, Roy Bourgeois decided that he could no longer remain silent about the discrimination against women in his own church. He knew too many women of deep devotion and courage to countenance the prohibition against their attaining full status.

Trump’s ascendance challenges us to examine the ground of our actions By Herbert Rothschild Why John Milton went completely blind by February 1652 at the age of 44 no modern

Herbert Rothschild: We aren’t appreciably safer now than we were during the Cuban Missile Crisis. What else can we conclude but that nuclear policy simply mustn’t be left in the hands of the warmakers? Either we give peace a chance or we continue to chance self-immolation.

Herbert Rothschild: Unarguably, the worst aspect of the Epstein story is that numerous men, including men with public reputations to protect, were willing to sexually abuse minors or, knowing what Epstein was doing, were unwilling to spurn him, much less turn him in to the law. But a sad second aspect is what it says about the attraction of money. Both before and after his conviction, Epstein’s wealth allowed him to successfully cultivate connections with men of status.

Herbert Rothschild: As the number of ads in The New Yorker has shrunk, it seems as if the wealth of its readership has concentrated, just as one might concentrate the flavor of a sauce by reducing it on the stovetop.

Herbert Rothschild: Here’s one of my speculations. Suddenly the passing drivers see something that isn’t supposed to be there and they are perplexed. What is genocide doing in downtown Medford? That’s not part of my day. That’s not part of my life. Am I being asked to make it part of my life? How would I even begin to do that?

Herbert Rothschild: Rightly understood, money is simply a tool for achieving what we want. Fortunately, what most of us want isn’t self-aggrandizement. Beyond giving us financial security, our money affords us an easy way to contribute to the well-being of others — family, community, world.

Herbert Rothschild: Vladimir Putin has said he is willing to abide for one more year by the limits on nuclear arms in the New START treaty while another treaty is being negotiated. Our immediate task is to convince Donald Trump to accept that offer. Don’t react to this call to action in a knee-jerk fashion. Trump wants to be seen as an international peacemaker.