Authoritarianism
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Federal Court Rules Against Closing Private Schools
“The Court’s ruling was a long-overdue check on the egos of California’s leaders who, through the entire pandemic, treated its citizens like lab rats. Its lockdown policies have been the most severe and the most arbitrary, paying little attention to evidence or the law.” ~ Ethan Yang
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Biden’s Rescue Act Targets Americans’ Freedoms
“At some point, the federal government’s ability to carpet bomb citizens with free money will fizzle out. In the meantime, the biggest mistake Americans could make is to permit politicians to absolve themselves by giving away more of other people’s money.” ~ James Bovard
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The Race to Win Covidfinity
“It doesn’t much matter what the future ‘threat’ will look like, or how damaging the Delta or Epsilon variants currently seem. I’m afraid of Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet. Though, I don’t think it’ll be a string of a pretty lame coronavirus, but something considerably worse.” ~ Joakim Book
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‘Zero Covid’ Experts Put Grandkids at Risk
“We should learn from this episode, though. Worse pandemics will emerge, perhaps even where some tough restrictions are justified. But we need to learn how to fight pandemics without permanently altering our way of life.” ~ Adam Creighton
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The False Promise of Sanctions and Isolation
“Our current approach of alienation and intimidation only promises disappointment on both sides. Although there is no guarantee that warming relations would result in the liberal democratic reforms that the US desires for Cuba, anything would be better than the lose-lose policy of economic warfare.” ~ Ethan Yang
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When the President Does It, It’s Not Illegal
“Governments can find ways to serve their constituents (i.e. the taxpayers) better for the price they charge, they can lower their prices, or they can collude with others in the industry to keep prices high and quality low. Unlike businesses, however, when governments choose the third option, they are celebrated as heroes.” ~ David Hebert
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Why Government Lockdowns Mostly Harm the Poor
“These irresponsible government actions are especially acute and more harmful in developing countries and among the poor because most workers can’t afford to sacrifice weeks or perhaps months of income, only to be confined to what is effectively house arrest.” ~ Michael N. Peterson
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No Science Is Ever Settled
“If you think science is when people of authority agree, you’re not just naïve but heavily deluded. Stop venerating science in the singular and start embracing its core, plural, and contentious ethos: that plenty of people are wrong about almost everything, all the time. Even – perhaps especially – those with lots to lose.” ~…
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Sanctions Against South Africa and the Cuban Embargo
“The sanctions undoubtedly had psychological and moral effects, just like the US embargo on Cuba. Neither Levy nor Lowenberg and Kaempfer–or any followup literature I’ve been able to find–thinks these effects have as much explanatory power as apartheid’s inefficiency, growing internal political opposition, and the fall of the Soviet Union.” ~ Art Carden
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The Bad and the Very Bad
“Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America in the hope of preventing the death of liberal civilization. For Tocqueville, liberal civilization was a somewhere to be defended by its sons and daughters. Throughout his famous work, he expresses hope. Heeding his warning enhances our prospects.” ~ Daniel B. Klein
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•
Federal Court Rules Against Closing Private Schools
“The Court’s ruling was a long-overdue check on the egos of California’s leaders who, through the entire pandemic, treated its citizens like lab rats. Its lockdown policies have been the most severe and the most arbitrary, paying little attention to evidence or the law.” ~ Ethan Yang
-
•
Biden’s Rescue Act Targets Americans’ Freedoms
“At some point, the federal government’s ability to carpet bomb citizens with free money will fizzle out. In the meantime, the biggest mistake Americans could make is to permit politicians to absolve themselves by giving away more of other people’s money.” ~ James Bovard
-
•
The Race to Win Covidfinity
“It doesn’t much matter what the future ‘threat’ will look like, or how damaging the Delta or Epsilon variants currently seem. I’m afraid of Omega, the last letter of the Greek alphabet. Though, I don’t think it’ll be a string of a pretty lame coronavirus, but something considerably worse.” ~ Joakim Book
-
•
‘Zero Covid’ Experts Put Grandkids at Risk
“We should learn from this episode, though. Worse pandemics will emerge, perhaps even where some tough restrictions are justified. But we need to learn how to fight pandemics without permanently altering our way of life.” ~ Adam Creighton
-
•
The False Promise of Sanctions and Isolation
“Our current approach of alienation and intimidation only promises disappointment on both sides. Although there is no guarantee that warming relations would result in the liberal democratic reforms that the US desires for Cuba, anything would be better than the lose-lose policy of economic warfare.” ~ Ethan Yang
-
•
When the President Does It, It’s Not Illegal
“Governments can find ways to serve their constituents (i.e. the taxpayers) better for the price they charge, they can lower their prices, or they can collude with others in the industry to keep prices high and quality low. Unlike businesses, however, when governments choose the third option, they are celebrated as heroes.” ~ David Hebert
-
•
Why Government Lockdowns Mostly Harm the Poor
“These irresponsible government actions are especially acute and more harmful in developing countries and among the poor because most workers can’t afford to sacrifice weeks or perhaps months of income, only to be confined to what is effectively house arrest.” ~ Michael N. Peterson
-
•
No Science Is Ever Settled
“If you think science is when people of authority agree, you’re not just naïve but heavily deluded. Stop venerating science in the singular and start embracing its core, plural, and contentious ethos: that plenty of people are wrong about almost everything, all the time. Even – perhaps especially – those with lots to lose.” ~…
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•
Sanctions Against South Africa and the Cuban Embargo
“The sanctions undoubtedly had psychological and moral effects, just like the US embargo on Cuba. Neither Levy nor Lowenberg and Kaempfer–or any followup literature I’ve been able to find–thinks these effects have as much explanatory power as apartheid’s inefficiency, growing internal political opposition, and the fall of the Soviet Union.” ~ Art Carden
-
•
The Bad and the Very Bad
“Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America in the hope of preventing the death of liberal civilization. For Tocqueville, liberal civilization was a somewhere to be defended by its sons and daughters. Throughout his famous work, he expresses hope. Heeding his warning enhances our prospects.” ~ Daniel B. Klein