Dear Tories,
In the summer of 2017, I made the decision to concentrate in Classics. And I owe it all to Horace. The Latin poet is perhaps best known for his coinage of that oh-so popular exhortation: carpe diem. However, in reading him in the original, he did for me what Shakespeare has done for many of my peers. He captured the truth about human experience in a way I had never encountered before and he did so in quantitative meter, with form so sublime that it’s impossible not to stop in awe and admire what he accomplished.
When I think about Western civilization, I think about Horace – I think about his remarkable achievement and how it can speak so seamlessly to someone living thousands of years after him. However, in recent decades, Western civilization has been subjected to attack and deconstruction. Thus, this issue is about revisiting Western civilization and assessing its utility.
Since the Tory is not a literary magazine, my reflections on the topic are perhaps somewhat removed from those of my colleagues. Jacob Brown starts off the issue with an insistence upon the necessity of being empathetic in our democracy – a political system passed down from antiquity. Tyler Eddy grapples with race and Western civilization, countering those who would argue that there is an inseparable link between the two. Considering the recent unveiling of the Woodrow Wilson monument pointing out the 28th president’s successes and failures, Tyler’s piece comes at an opportune time.
That the U.S. Constitution has an important role to play in this issue should not be surprising. In The Lawsplainer, Akhil Rajasekar articulates a better way of thinking about the power of the federal government, using the jurisprudence of John Marshall as a lens. Just before that piece is Bianca Ortiz-Miskimen’s coverage of an event featuring Amy Coney Barrett, a federal judge who is viewed as a contender for elevation to the high court. Barrett’s description of the document as a means for American cohesion is, in my view, a part of a long tradition of thinkers attempting to secure and ensure liberty.
As could have been anticipated, Princeton’s collective consciousness has once again been arrested by freedom of speech concerns. Amy Wax, whom I reported on earlier this year, finally spoke on campus, despite further calls and even attempts to disinvite her. Another controversial speaker was Norman Finkelstein, whose comments led to Adam Hoffman’s polemic against him, included in this issue. All this seems to prove that, though there may be calls and attempts to disinvite, a speaker invited to Princeton will eventually speak, come what may.
Finally, dear Tory, look for Liam O’Connor’s investigation into the question of whether or not top academic performers at Princeton forego eating clubs. Look also for the Anscombe team’s defense of marriage against those who call its role into question. Both pieces are sure to spark conversation!
And that, ultimately, is the goal of this publication: to spark conversation among our readers and also to enrich the conversation each reader has with him- or herself. Please let us know if we’ve been successful.
Sincerely,
Jeff Zymeri ’20
Publisher
The Princeton Tory
Graphic design by Grace Koh ’20.
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