Topic: Crisis

equations, ai, computer

Computer Models Can’t Substitute for Real Life

– July 29, 2020

“Life is NP-Hard, and attempting to express that mentation in a few lines of code is imprudent, yet in and of itself probably harmless. But bringing those projected outcomes to politicians, who have neither the inclination to be skeptical or incentives to act cautiously, is dangerous.” ~ Peter C. Earle

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Political Legitimacy Dies in 2020

– July 28, 2020

“As Thomas Jefferson declared in 1786, ‘An elective despotism was not the government we fought for.’ What’s the point of voting if ‘government under the law’ is not a choice on Election Day? American political legitimacy will continue plummeting as long as politicians scorn any legal and constitutional limits on their power.” ~ James Bovard

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The Bloodless Political Class and Its Lack of Empathy

– July 27, 2020

“Power is dangerous even when not used, but deploying it brutally and pointlessly rots the soul. This is a good description of almost the entire ruling class around the world today, save a few civilized countries that never locked down.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker

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harvard spring

Restoring Our Troubled Academy

– July 27, 2020

” Shared governance has produced an educational and political crisis. As long as the faculty and top administrators are in charge, the academy will continue to be wasteful, self-serving, and inappropriately political. Change must come from above, where the board is supposed to be.” ~ Jay Schalin

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kids running

Don’t Close the Schools but Protect Teachers and Staff

– July 26, 2020

“This issue should not be resolved with school closures. Rather schools should do the best they can to craft tailored responses that will allow them to stay open while ensuring vulnerable individuals are accommodated. Ultimately we must do the best we can to get society back on track to normalcy as the sacrifices that have characterized our response to COVID-19 have far outweighed the benefits.” ~ Ethan Yang

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How Global Capitalism Boosted Immunities

– July 25, 2020

“The implications of Gupta’s view – and its flipping of the run-and-hide, shelter-in-place narrative – offer a promising new way to understand the relationship between modern capitalism and the dramatic improvements in human health we’ve experienced over a century. It also sends up a warning flare: if we stay on the present course of hiding and futilely trying to suppress the virus, we will end making all of society poorer both materially and spiritually and also delivering a dangerous blow to our biological health.” ~ Jeffrey Tucker

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prohibition

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

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miserable

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

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Fauci Is Wrong: New York Did Not Do it “Correctly”

– July 23, 2020

“The deep human costs of this virus and its corresponding policies have been exacerbated by blind hubris and unfounded pride––which, to no small extent, saw their expression in the conceit of rule by models. Though it might be too little too late, diligent reflection and readjustment in future pandemic combat efforts will be the only way to honor those who were lost so unnecessarily.” ~ Fiona Harrigan and Peter C. Earle

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The Models Were Wildly Wrong about Reopening Too

– July 23, 2020

“These flawed models begin with an unproven assumption, namely that lockdowns are effective at combating the coronavirus. The models are therefore automatically calibrated to produce a sharp spike in deaths after the removal of lockdowns or any move toward reopening.” ~ Phil Magness

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Louis XIV

Government’s Credibility Crisis

– July 23, 2020

“The readiness with which Americans accepted one of the most distilled forms of authoritarianism in a lifetime should shake us from our slumber, prompting an energetic return to Spencer’s liberalism, the humbler liberalism of granting a presumption in favor of individual people and their dignity.” ~ David S. D’Amato

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bull

Welcome to the Frankfurtian World

– July 22, 2020

“Wherever one turns, the political discourse seems entirely uninterested in the Enlightenment project – the values of 17th and 18th century philosophers imploring us to use reason to approach scientific truth and an intelligent and civil society.” ~ Joakim Book

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