BRAD DE LONG has some delightful reflections on democracy inspired by the game Civilization II. The lessons it imparts are not accidental — in fact, I remember reading an essay by a wargame writer back in the 1970s (I think it may even have been one of the creators of Civilization) about the teaching role that wargames (and “peacegames”) could play. As Dave Kopel and I wrote last year, the teaching role of wargames is a fascinating example of non-academic, private-sector education, and of a way in which knowledge and cultural values scorned by the academy were preserved elsewhere. There’s a good book (or at least an article in the Atlantic Monthly) in this for somebody.