Topic: Authoritarianism

Ridiculous Liquor Regulations

– July 25, 2020

“The good news is that evasive entrepreneurs and an increasingly technologically-empowered public will keep pushing back and hopefully whittle away at the continuing vestiges of Prohibition Era stupidity. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and when people want a drink, crafty entrepreneurs will usually find a way to deliver.” ~ Adam Thierer

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Free Markets

The Make-‘Em-Miserable Hypothesis

– July 24, 2020

“If a careful formulation of the make-em-miserable hypothesis contains an element of truth, correction must come from those whose conduct manifests the phenomenon. They must look carefully, they must look bravely, into what Ronald Coase called ‘the total effect’ of their conduct and beliefs.” ~ Daniel B. Klein

Authoritarianism, Policy, Regulation

After 30 Years, Did the Disabilities Act Work?

– July 22, 2020

“The ADA’s absurdities and ritualized legal racketeering are occurring in an era when Americans have become far more humane, rational, and compassionate towards the disabled. It is time to end the flying kangaroos, college testing scams, and torpedoed websites and to finally curb the parasite lawyers.” ~ James Brovard

Art and Culture, Authoritarianism, Classical Liberalism, History

“Systemic Racism” Theory is the New Political Tribalism

– July 21, 2020

“A freedom not based on race, nationality, language, or religion, but on an idea of the unique and valued individual who is at liberty to live his own life, peacefully in voluntary mutual association with others. A society that, more than any other, has done more to do away with the tribe and liberate the person, and bring peace and prosperity along with it.” ~ Richard M. Ebeling

Authoritarianism, Classical Liberalism, History

Your State Matters More Than You May Think

– July 21, 2020

“While employment regulation may seem like a long way from communism, the point is that the federal government does not stand on the slope at all, regardless of subjective perceptions of its slipperiness. The safety ropes that remain at its disposal, like the interstate commerce clause, are only as effective as the will and skill with which they are employed to arrest the descent and could easily prove insufficient if communism were preferred by a majority of the state’s electorate, as lockdowns remain in some states.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Art and Culture, Authoritarianism, Crisis

The Lockdowns Are Killing the Arts

– July 14, 2020

“Governments declared arts to be nonessential, dispensable, abolishable. It’s the biggest attack on art and beauty possibly since the iconoclasm of the 16th century, when mobs sacked churches, tore out paintings, and melted candlesticks in bonfires. Back then the motivation was to purify the world of sin. Now we think we are purifying the world of disease.” ~ Jeffrey A. Tucker

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Education, Policy

The Dangers of Keeping the Schools Closed

– July 13, 2020

“Medical experts who support school closures more generally clarify that they are a tool to be considered at the beginning of a pandemic, not seven months in. COVID-19 poses a far lesser risk to children for both death and infection. Closing schools will probably spare some schoolchildren from infection. Whether it will be enough to justify what we may have to sacrifice is another question entirely.” ~ Ethan Yang

Authoritarianism, Classical Liberalism, Education

Save America from Cancel Culture

– July 13, 2020

“All possible effort must be made to resist and rationally respond to a “cancel culture” that would erase the history and memory of America from the minds of humankind.” ~ Richard M. Ebeling

Authoritarianism, Free Trade, Technology

Can They Really Get Away with Banning TikTok?

– July 8, 2020

“It’s all about bringing the poison of politics to a realm of innovation that has thus far been mostly and mercifully free of it. Once we have to ask politicians’ permission to download a playful app, we are going further down the road that we’ve been on for the last several months: a new frontier of political control at the expense of individual choice.” ~ Jeffrey A. Tucker

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Regulation

Bill Gates: From Entrepreneur to Supervillain

– July 8, 2020

“Supervillains coerce and harm. Successful entrepreneurs serve and enrich humanity. Gates should return to his entrepreneurial roots.” ~ Barry Brownstein

Authoritarianism, Economic Education, Free Markets, Policy

The Economy after COVID-19

– July 7, 2020

“One thing is certain: life in America is not going to be the same after COVID-19. Like the Great Depression and World War II, the pandemic will exert an impact for years, perhaps even decades, on the nation’s economic and political fortunes.” ~ James D. Gwartney

Authoritarianism, Crisis, Healthcare, Policy, Public Choice and Public Policy

Safety First is a Bad Ideology

– July 5, 2020

“With the birth of capitalism, we tolerated social mobility: both downward and more heroically, upward. The churning of the social space is consistent with a greater toleration of risk. Maybe we haven’t convinced you with regard to public health issues during a pandemic, but at least consider the weight placed on safety the next time you use a satellite connected device, visit a beach, or take an antibiotic.” ~ Diana & Michael Thomas