The following, in no particular order, range across the political, literary, virtuous, and philosophical. They lack a thematic coherence, but capture something valuable in a process, thought, or method. Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson I do not wish to expiate, but to live. My life is for itself and not for a spectacle. I much …
The Cult of Economic Progress Isn’t Always Progress
I always dismissed "people before profits." It sounds reactionary, an economically ignorant slogan rather than anything meaningful. Hippies or "artists" living in the city on trust funds from suburban parents shout it at rallies. However, it deserves more than flippant disregard. Uttered in a more nuanced light, it's a commentary on progress. Or, as Orwell understood the …
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Walter Block and Vladimir Putin: When Reactionary Aversion Blinds Common Sense
In politics, Americans have a penchant for domestic cynicism and foreign naivete. Conservatives write, earnestly and unironically, that Barack Obama wants to destroy America, and liberals warn that the specter of the Koch Brothers threaten democracy in the United States. Such cynical attitudes feed conspiracy theories or comprehend different political views as sin. When foreign …
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On My Visit to Auschwitz
When visiting Auschwitz, the weather should be extreme. Hot and beautiful during the summer, or snowy and miserable during the winter. The contrast should jar the visitor or misery should overwhelm and bring a brief rush of understanding. When I visited Dachau, it was sunny, but cold; not extreme enough. Auschwitz felt like I should’ve …
In Fusionism Lies Folly: The Tea Party Killed It (Again)
The alliance between conservatives and libertarians, defined as "fusionism" by Frank S. Meyer, gets praised or excoriated every six months (or whenever Rand Paul appears before a camera). Instead of repeating the brilliant writings of Meyer (or some recent entries), I propose a pseudo-empirical review since 2010 and the rise of the Tea Party. Conservatives …
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Detroit: An Example of Midwestern Decline, A Reluctant Model for Pension Reform
As Detroit files for bankruptcy, the fate of its pension obligations should grab your attention, as it’ll probably set a precedent. Extraordinarily few governments (on all levels) adequately fund pensions and over-promise on benefits. Complicating that, most states constitutionally guarantee pensions (Michigan included), and how Detroit unites constitutional law with economic reality will be taken as …
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Baiting in the Partisan Media:* Why Does Anyone Trust Rush Limbaugh?
*Note: All media is partisan, but some try to report from “the view from nowhere.” To oversimplify, conservatives should worry about baiting, pandering, and low journalistic standards in their outlets, while liberals should worry about baiting, pandering, and smugness in theirs. Why low standards for conservatives and not liberals? The conservative partisan news market is more …
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Why is LewRockwell.com Defending a Hungarian Authoritarian?
Source. What’s up with LewRockwell.com and Daniel McAdams being all about Viktor Orban in Hungary? It fits with Paul Hollander’s thesis in Political Pilgrims about why leftist intellectuals supported communist dictatorships during the 20th century: Seeing the human-rights violations, imperialism, and general abuse of Western governments, the communists must not be so bad. The West has propagandized against the Soviet utopia …
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Monopolistic disruption in the United States Postal Service
Were the United States to align itself with common sense, its citizenry would have de-monopolized mail delivery decades ago. With the Postal Service's shaky future, it might be politically feasible to do so. Finally. Matt Yglesias summarizes the scenario: Conservatives often wrongly caricature the United States Postal Service as somehow inefficient or poorly managed, while …
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Health and happiness aren’t synonymous
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal on the dangers of paternalism: