Topic: Authoritarianism

Even a Military-Enforced Quarantine Can’t Stop the Virus, Study Reveals

– November 13, 2020

“The lockdowners keep telling us to pay attention to the science. That’s what we are doing. When the results contradict their pro-compulsion narrative, they pretend that the studies do not exist and barrel ahead with their scary plans to disable all social functioning in the presence of a virus. Lockdowns are not science. They never have been. They are an experiment in social/political top-down management that is without precedent in cost to life and liberty.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Science

A Second National Lockdown is Dangerous and Reckless

– November 13, 2020

“To say that now the entire country should enter a 4-6 week shutdown stricter than all that came before is not only tone deaf but reckless. Such a policy will likely have untold consequences that go beyond economic devastation. Suicides, substance abuse, and social turmoil have been exacerbated as a result of lockdowns, and they will only worsen under this new policy.” ~ Ethan Yang

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Economic Education

Who to Believe? What to Believe?

– November 12, 2020

“The real world is complex and most of us do not have the information, or the information processing capabilities, to make sense out of much of it. So instead of jumping on intellectual bandwagons and opining that Y is the best color, or masks work because … they do!, or somebody on TV says so, try just watching, listening, thinking, and asking questions, especially about alternatives.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Authoritarianism, Government, History

Elections and Legitimacy

– November 11, 2020

“The election results will likely further erode federal legitimacy at a time when Uncle Sam has no trust to spare. How many more election debacles and brazen abuses of power does Washington believe the American people will tolerate?” ~ James Bovard

Authoritarianism, Economic Education, Government

Why Politics Breeds Divisive Fears and Angers

– November 10, 2020

“Politics becomes a life and death struggle, a fight to the finish, since the winning side with the majority upper hand is able to impose and enforce its views and values on all in society. Only by limiting government to those few though essential functions can these tensions, angers, and divisions be reduced or even removed.” ~ Richard M. Ebeling

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Government

Agreeing and Disagreeing with Tyler Cowen on Covid-19

– November 9, 2020

“By failing to take account of Covid’s differential impact on people according to their age, governments have compromised their credibility. By falsely treating everyone from kindergartners through college students and even middle-aged folks in normal health as if they all are as imperiled by Covid as are residents of nursing homes, governments signal a disregard for relevant facts. They reveal that they’ll seize upon any crisis, inflate it opportunistically, and use it as an excuse to grab more power regardless of the underlying realities.” ~ Donald J. Boudreaux

Authoritarianism, Free Markets, Government

Let a Billion Preferences Bloom

– November 9, 2020

“Mass customization and diversity are commercial society’s virtues. Mass regimentation and uniformity are political society’s vices. The stark contrast is clear in the proximity between Halloween and Election Day.” ~ Art Carden

Authoritarianism, Economic Education, Government

Reflecting On Communism After 103 Years

– November 8, 2020

“Communism and big government ideologies more generally have made the lethal promise that nature can bend to the will of man. That human nature, the laws of economics, and basic political science are merely suggestions. How dreadfully wrong they were.” ~ Ethan Yang

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Government

The Mystery of Taiwan

– November 7, 2020

“According to the lockdown narrative, Taiwan did almost everything ‘wrong’ but generated what might in fact be the best results in terms of public health of any country in the world.” ~ Amelia Janaskie

Authoritarianism, Government, Policy

It’s Time To Admit: Drugs Won The War On Drugs

– November 7, 2020

“Ten years ago, ending the drug war was a pipe dream. Now, medical marijuana and recreational marijuana are being legalized in state after state. I can only hope that the end of all this Reefer Madness is near.” ~ Art Carden

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Government

The Political Parties Abandon the Working Class

– November 6, 2020

“The approach to the pandemic that the Democratic Party and liberal-left has adopted represents the culmination of Frank’s concerns expressed in Listen, Liberal. The working class and poor have been utterly forsaken; the party serves primarily the interests of the ruling class. The Democratic Party cannot expect to win back the working class until it addresses this shortcoming. Because even if Joe Biden wins this election narrowly, this fundamental issue will remain.” ~ Jenin Younes

Authoritarianism, Classical Liberalism, Government

Ant Group’s IPO and the Rising Tide of Authoritarianism

– November 6, 2020

“Although China may seem like a far-off place, authoritarianism is on the rise here in the United States. The cost of liberty is eternal vigilance, and today there is a growing tide of economic illiberalism that seeks to betray core economic principles. Such an onslaught will not only leave us economically worse off but as we have just seen in China, suppressing economic freedom also requires suppressing personal freedom.” ~ Ethan Yang