Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal

history

  • THE SALT OF INDIVIDUAL ACTION

    PART ONE: THE QUESTION BEFORE US On the morning of 12 March 1930, Mahatma Gandhi began walking from his ashram in Ahmedabad towards the coastal town of Dandi on the Arabian Sea. The distance of 240 miles required walking twelve… Continue reading

  • ONE VOICE IN A CHORUS OF VOICES

    “A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:9). What are my obligations in these times of the emergence of a dictatorship, political discord, and economic chaos? I am merely one voice in a chorus of… Continue reading

  • THE TIME HAS COME FOR AN AMERICAN SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT

    April 5th marks the beginning of a Solidarity Movement here in the States. Those of us who are older remember the nonviolent struggle against the Polish authoritarian communist government. The movement was a coalition of union workers, students, intellectuals, farmers,… Continue reading

  • DEMOCRATS AND THE MORAL MOMENT

    To an independent outsider, the quarrel and discord between oppositional wings have made the Democratic Party appear obsolete. Neither the DNC leadership nor the operatives, those attached to the traditional role of polity, appear capable of recognizing who their constituencies… Continue reading

  • Why Civil Resistance Works

    The other day I received permission from Canada Resist to republish this from their blog on Substack. There are lessons to learn from history. The question is whether or not we are willing to learn and apply those in this… Continue reading

  • The Unitary Executive Theory

    Part II: The President, the Ghost of Justice Scalia and the Ghostbusters    Have you ever thought about the word all? This simple word, used either as a noun or an adverb, when used for emphasis, is easily taken for… Continue reading

  • THE UNITARY EXECUTIVE THEORY

    PART ONE: ON MONARCHY On February 11th, Justice Sonia Sotomayor reminded faculty and students at a Florida college that, “Our founders were hellbent on ensuring that we didn’t have a monarchy, and the first way they thought of doing this… Continue reading

  • Remembrance: The Highest and Purest Democracy

    There are times when one must pause to remember. Today is such a day for me. At 10:30 on the morning of February 23, 1945, a 54×28-inch American flag was raised on a volcanic island in the Pacific. The island… Continue reading