Political Thought
Tucker isn’t wrong in this analysis. There’s a reason our borders are open and buses and planes are distributing all comers across the country. But here’s an important point that’s often ignored: If newly arrived residents are here, and if they’re going to be voters, they might vote with you! That doesn’t mean pandering, and…
Just a few days ago, we were seeing headlines like, “Former USA National Team Gymnasts Testify Against the FBI Over Botched Larry Nassar Investigation.” Today the news is that “the FBI is investigating a group of male Afghan refugees after they assaulted a female U.S. soldier in New Mexico.” Notice how all the threads are…
Talk about cultivating a hostile environment! John DePetro reports that the state Department of Health is encouraging healthcare workers to tattle on coworkers who remain unvaccinated against COVID-19 (whether or not they have acquired immunity through prior exposure). Center for Professional Boards and Licensing Chief Ellen Balasco ends a recent notice about vaccination requirements thus:…
The headline from a Dennis Prager commentary in the Epoch Times evokes two distinct ideas. Here’s the headline: “As America Has Become More Secular, It Has Become Less Free.” The first idea is along the lines that Prager emphasizes: Freedom permeates the Old Testament: The Bible begins with the story of Adam and Eve, a story…
A July episode of the Econtalk podcast is worth your time. University of Chicago Economist James Heckman (a Nobel Laureate) and host Russ Roberts discuss the former’s research on social mobility in Denmark, a country with frighteningly detailed data on all of its citizens. Here’s a key point worth teasing out, from Heckman (emphasis added): … Denmark…
Somehow, this seems at odds with the strong hand Big Tech has brought to bear against people it claims are trying to undermine elections in the United States: Following Russia’s demand that Apple and Google remove the tactical voting app, and then threats of fines, Apple and Google have dropped the “Smart Voting” app in…
Folks are debating the justification and impetus for the Biden administration to grant access to monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19 not strictly according to need. Ryan Saavedra reports for The Daily Wire: [Biden spokeswoman Jen] Psaki then said that the treatments are used after a person becomes infected and said that the way to save more…
While I’m touching on Instapundit Glenn Reynolds’s insights on the vaccine and marketing thereof, this point is interesting: A lot of people are afraid of needles — some say it’s over 25% of the population. Does every story featuring the “jab” (maybe also bad marketing — “jab” doesn’t sound very gentle) have to feature a needle?…
When Ray Rickman mentioned his support for progressive wealth redistribution during his State of the State conversation with Mike Stenhouse, Sten didn’t want to redirect the conversation into that debate, only mentioning (because he couldn’t not say anything, of course) that the big question is who the angels are to decide when enough is enough. If…
Free-market purists err in that they disregard (or, at least, discount) the importance of factors that both they and the market have a hard time factoring into their equations. Even relatively unadulterated free-marketers recognize the problem of externalities and the tragedy of the commons. We should arguably go a little farther than that and recognize…