Joakim Book
Research Fellow
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How Bad is Our Social Dilemma?
“What critics refer to when they say ‘This time is the same’ isn’t that television, newspapers, or cars revolutionized our societies in the exact same way that social media are doing, but that we found ways to deal with them. Live with them. Constrain them. Even if Harris doesn’t seem to think so, we can…
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Covid Governments and Social Harmony
“In a free society, trading, perusing wares, socializing and enjoying the company of others are mutually beneficial, innocent and harmonious actions. In a government-mandated Covid society, these wants are now antagonistic.”~ Joakim Book
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Money for the Masses!
“Goldstein treats money like it’s the military: as something we can control, commandeer hither and thither, and that it almost always behaves like we imagine it will. It won’t do.” ~ Joakim Book
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The Orwellian Pandemic
“This strange power of language to change hearts and minds was always dubious at best but has, in our times of coronavirus need, gone completely berserk. If we tell a virus to back off, it will. If we ensure one another with empty religious phrases, we’ll all be protected from God’s wrath. George Orwell and…
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David Skarbek on Prison Order
“At best Skarbek has illustrated how governance institutions can be analyzed, providing us with a fascinating case study of prison life in a dozen settings. A bit more charitably, governance theory applied to prisons is not falsified by the examples he uses. Whether he has proven the usefulness of the theory, or its ability to…
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The ’Rona Squeeze and a Swedish Hip-Hopper
“Most everywhere else, different rules apply: no matter the facts, we must squeeze harder. The badly-behaved virus must stop progressing, must cease and desist. Anything else, apparently, ‘just doesn’t seem worth it.'” ~ Joakim Book
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The Tide-Theory of Climate Change
“Adaptation matters. Economic growth matters. Feats of engineering most certainly matter, as do flexibility and ingenuity of unregulated markets. Everyone from serious climate researchers to less-serious climate activists seem to forget that.” ~ Joakim Book
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Climate Catastrophism and a Sensible Environmentalism
“We should deal with the threats of climate change, but we should do so sensibly and in conjunction with other threats. Because one thing is dangerous and potentially harmful, every other dangerous and harmful thing doesn’t just go away.” ~ Joakim Book
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Will Things Ever Go Back To Normal?
“Fast forward ten or twenty years and everyone forgets that the invasive powers we transferred to the state were ever temporary in the first place. Higgs is the intellectual champion we don’t deserve, but so desperately need. Let’s just hope that I am wrong, and that progress wins out in the end.” ~ Joakim Book
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Trump Mania: Why Do We Care So Much About Politics?
“This isn’t a binary world: it was never ‘Trump or nothing,’ or ‘Trump or Utopia.’ What can be reasonably ascribed to Trump is the minor difference between him and the next guy (who, in the grand scheme of things agrees with him on 95% of issues) – deflated by the sum of changes in technology,…
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•
How Bad is Our Social Dilemma?
“What critics refer to when they say ‘This time is the same’ isn’t that television, newspapers, or cars revolutionized our societies in the exact same way that social media are doing, but that we found ways to deal with them. Live with them. Constrain them. Even if Harris doesn’t seem to think so, we can…
-
•
Covid Governments and Social Harmony
“In a free society, trading, perusing wares, socializing and enjoying the company of others are mutually beneficial, innocent and harmonious actions. In a government-mandated Covid society, these wants are now antagonistic.”~ Joakim Book
-
•
Money for the Masses!
“Goldstein treats money like it’s the military: as something we can control, commandeer hither and thither, and that it almost always behaves like we imagine it will. It won’t do.” ~ Joakim Book
-
•
The Orwellian Pandemic
“This strange power of language to change hearts and minds was always dubious at best but has, in our times of coronavirus need, gone completely berserk. If we tell a virus to back off, it will. If we ensure one another with empty religious phrases, we’ll all be protected from God’s wrath. George Orwell and…
-
•
David Skarbek on Prison Order
“At best Skarbek has illustrated how governance institutions can be analyzed, providing us with a fascinating case study of prison life in a dozen settings. A bit more charitably, governance theory applied to prisons is not falsified by the examples he uses. Whether he has proven the usefulness of the theory, or its ability to…
-
•
The ’Rona Squeeze and a Swedish Hip-Hopper
“Most everywhere else, different rules apply: no matter the facts, we must squeeze harder. The badly-behaved virus must stop progressing, must cease and desist. Anything else, apparently, ‘just doesn’t seem worth it.'” ~ Joakim Book
-
•
The Tide-Theory of Climate Change
“Adaptation matters. Economic growth matters. Feats of engineering most certainly matter, as do flexibility and ingenuity of unregulated markets. Everyone from serious climate researchers to less-serious climate activists seem to forget that.” ~ Joakim Book
-
•
Climate Catastrophism and a Sensible Environmentalism
“We should deal with the threats of climate change, but we should do so sensibly and in conjunction with other threats. Because one thing is dangerous and potentially harmful, every other dangerous and harmful thing doesn’t just go away.” ~ Joakim Book
-
•
Will Things Ever Go Back To Normal?
“Fast forward ten or twenty years and everyone forgets that the invasive powers we transferred to the state were ever temporary in the first place. Higgs is the intellectual champion we don’t deserve, but so desperately need. Let’s just hope that I am wrong, and that progress wins out in the end.” ~ Joakim Book
-
•
Trump Mania: Why Do We Care So Much About Politics?
“This isn’t a binary world: it was never ‘Trump or nothing,’ or ‘Trump or Utopia.’ What can be reasonably ascribed to Trump is the minor difference between him and the next guy (who, in the grand scheme of things agrees with him on 95% of issues) – deflated by the sum of changes in technology,…