Topic: Authoritarianism

Cancel Culture Is Just the Beginning

– April 1, 2021

“In fact, the current arrangement defies the revolutionary credo that there should be no taxation without representation. The notion was that instead of taxing the people directly, large, distant governments, like those in London and later Washington, should tax only indirectly, like with tariffs or imposts, lest the harpies feared by Jefferson, Parker, and the other Founders multiply and eat out the people’s substance.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Authoritarianism, Policy, Technology

The Right Not to Get Matched

– March 31, 2021

“We all need and deserve tools that we understand and can control. That is why I think we should be really vocal about it and resist technologies that instead of supporting and collaborating with humans, take over and make decisions on their behalf. Pop culture feeds us these scenarios as inevitable. Let’s write different ones in our real lives.” ~ Aleksandra Przegalinska

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Healthcare

New York Rolls Out Vaccine Passport Program

– March 31, 2021

“New York is just one of several states that is introducing an independent vaccine passport program (Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, to his great credit has ruled it out as a misguided, authoritarian idea). These states are not alone in embracing the social credit score model. Several European Union members (The EU is introducing a ‘Digital Green Certificate’), South American countries, China, and other nations are moving forward on their own vaccine passport systems.” ~ Jordan Schachtel

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Science

Lockdown Proponents Have Seemingly Forgotten North Sentinel Island In 2018

– March 30, 2021

“Lockdowns furthered the rather backwards notion that our health is improved if we’re separated from one another. Not at all. Isolated people aren’t saved from what threatens their health as much the inevitable infection from the threat is delayed. Worse is what the isolation means over the longer term. The North Sentinelese are a very real reminder of how cruelly bankrupt the run-and-hide strategy is as a broad form of virus mitigation.” ~ John Tamny

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Technology

How to Be an Anti-Authoritarian

– March 30, 2021

“We can choose to be more open in face-to-face conversations arising organically with friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues. Even in those conversations, the intolerant will ridicule you and blame you for the troubles in the world. Yet your display of genuine curiosity will evoke curiosity in others. Out of your courage to share ideas and with a mutual mindset of curiosity, freedom can be rediscovered.” ~ Barry Brownstein

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Science

Wars and “Following the Science” are Sure Paths to Tyranny

– March 30, 2021

“History has the habit of playing tricks on us and very often turning out in ways that many if not most of us could not even imagine. That is why, in spite of how things may look, it is never too late. But if history is to tell a story of liberty rather than collectivism for the remainder of this century, then it behooves as many of us as possible to point out to our fellow citizens that the political emperors who say they are ‘just following the science,’ are really not wearing any clothes.” ~ Richard M. Ebeling

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Government

Needed: A COVID-19 Lockdown Commission

– March 30, 2021

“America’s independent sector and civil society associations are founded on that very premise—the notion that we can do more in community than in isolation. No segment of American life is better suited to launch and lead a Covid-19 Lockdown Commission—and shine light on this mammoth policy failure—than the independent sector.” ~ Alan W. Dowd

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Economic Education

Political Economy vs. Federal Fairy Tales

– March 29, 2021

“Nowadays, the federal government is controlling almost everything except itself. Instead of economic salvation, Biden offers standard D.C. issue ‘no-fault pseudo-benevolence.’ How many more trillion dollars will America waste for another Beltway ‘triumph of hope over experience?'” ~ James Bovard

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Government

China Attempts to Silence Western Companies On Xinjiang

– March 28, 2021

“The attacks against Western fashion brands this week are a deliberate and orchestrated effort by the Chinese Communist Party to protect their human rights abuses in Xinjiang in response to recent Western sanctions for slavery in the region. They understand full well that this attack is a brilliant leveraging of the West’s greatest strength, a free and market-based society, against itself by forcing companies to choose between profit and survival over the rights of people they may never be able to save.” ~ Ethan Yang

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Government

Why Is Everyone in Texas Not Dying?

– March 26, 2021

“Now we can see the failure in black, white, and full color, daily appearing on our screens courtesy of the CDC. Has that shaken the pro-lockdown pundit class? Not that much. What an amazing testament to the stubbornness of elite opinion and its bias against basic freedoms. They might all echo the words of Groucho Marx: ‘Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?'” ~ Jeffrey Tucker

Authoritarianism, Government, History

The Presidents of Paine

– March 26, 2021

“America suffers hyper-partisanship even in its courts of law. If Paine still exists on some spiritual plain, he certainly feels the pain of his adopted homeland as it struggles to revivify its founding principles and regain independence from King Woke.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Economic Education

How Lockdowns Devastated the Cruise Industry

– March 25, 2021

“Hopefully readers will also keep in mind how quickly politicians can wreck things, and how quickly their destruction robs people and businesses of dignity. Right now, the formerly soaring cruise industry is once again ‘waiting anxiously for Washington’s go-ahead to sail again.’ Please think about that. And how wrong it is.” ~ John Tamny