When it comes to how we handle the history of colonization, a choice between gestures of recognition on the one hand, or widespread social ignorance and non-recognition of past atrocities on the other, is no choice at all—the former is obviously preferred. So, politicians making speeches, passing motions, creating holidays, and so on to recognize…

At Reason (“Did NYC Just Kneecap Airbnb?”), Liz Wolfe seems to be diversifying beyond her normal focus on tech platform apologetics and crowding onto the turf of resident landlord whisperer Christian Britschgi. I confess my first reading of the title brought a smile to my face — probably not the effect Wolfe intended — as…

According to Matthew’s gospel, Jesus used a colorful metaphor to condemn the scribes and Pharisees for scrupulously obsessing over minor points of the law like tithing their herbs, while ignoring weightier matters: “Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.” The same metaphor could describe right-libertarians’ approach to transportation policy. A…

I recently saw someone on Facebook post a “horseshoe” graphic, illustrating the popular centrist-liberal “horseshoe theory” trope that, the further right and left deviate from the center, the more authoritarian they become and the more they resemble each other. The problem with “horseshoe theory” is that it takes the status quo for granted and ignores…

In a way, the theory of supply and demand explains prices. But in another, more accurate way, bargaining theory explains prices.  The idea that the prices of commodities are determined by the bargaining power of the buying and selling parties is not new, having been raised in the nineteenth century, but it does not play…

Transphobic protestors and commentators have recently taken to the slogan, “Leave our kids alone.” It’s part of an attempt to brand educators, librarians, authors, artists — whoever works with kids and supports trans children’s right to self-identify however they wish — as “groomers,” threats to the safety of kids via insidious brainwashing. In reality, reactionaries…

I’ll keep this short. I count myself among the defenders of private gun ownership, because I am an anarchist and I see utility in having a population that can challenge the state monopoly on violence if needed. Despite this, I am highly critical of right wing gun culture and it’s simple manichean narratives that cast…

This piece is an offshoot commentary on certain elements touched upon in a recent essay by Spooky, so it will make the most sense if one reads that first. Any quotes in the essay below, unless otherwise indicated by mention or link, are from Spooky’s essay. Since the Republicans—and any overlap with those political circles—are…

The Need For It Is. At Reason, J.D. Tuccille (“Worried About the Debt Fight? Make the Hard Spending Decisions That Politicians Won’t!”) restates a familiar refrain of the libertarian right: “it’s easy to forget that a statutory limit to federal borrowing isn’t the real issue; the real problem is that the federal government habitually spends…

In “Inside the Delirious Rise of ‘Superfake’ Handbags,” Amy X. Wang at the NYT reports on the fashion industry’s discomfiture over counterfeit luxury handbags that are indistinguishable from the real thing.   Not long ago, I found myself wandering through Paris with a fake Celine handbag slung over my shoulder. In France, a country that prides…

At Pluralistic, Cory Doctorow comments on libertarian elitists like Bryan Caplan and Jason Brennan, who argue for restricting the franchise because most people “Just Don’t Understand Economics”:  When you compare the views of the average person to the views of the average PhD economist, you find that the public sharply disagrees with such obvious truths…

Recently on Facebook, left-libertarian activist Brianna Coyle posted: Radical idea: The amount of freedom someone has in their life shouldn’t be dependent on how much money they have, or whether or not they own property. “Freedom of association” in the context of property rights is a privilege afforded only to those who own property. Freedom…

The Woke Nightmare That Doesn’t End! It’s in commercials! It’s on storefronts! It’s on social media, on television shows and streaming platforms! We may not be able to define what “woke” is, but, dammit! Like any obscenity, we know it when we see it! They’re ramming it down our throats and shoving it up our…

I have for years been an advocate of trans rights. This includes the rights of trans youth and their parents, with the guidance of their doctors, to pursue whatever health care they see fit. I see this freedom as life-saving. That said, I am from a rather conservative background, in which many people I know…

California, Minnesota, New York, Colorado, Connecticut, New Mexico, and at least 13 other states all recently declared themselves sanctuary states for trans youth, thus further building upon the pre-existing sanctuary movement which Trump attacked years ago for harboring undocumented immigrants. Despite the conservative backlash against the movement, many have pointed out that it is an exercise in state’s…

At Reason (“The Government Wants To Cap Credit Card Late Fees. It Will Hurt the Poor“), Veronique de Rugy shows levels of compassion for the poor suffering banks that hasn’t been seen since John Stossel condemned the immorality of walking away from underwater mortgages. De Rugy starts off on a note seemingly calculated to alienate…

I recently stumbled across an old Tyler Cowen post at Marginal Revolution — on “zero marginal product workers” — which perfectly illustrates the circularity of marginal productivity analysis, and how it hides power relations behind a facade of neutral economic laws. As Cowen initially states the argument, we have had a recovery in output, but…

At Grist, Amal Ahmed quotes a new report from Physicians for Social Responsibility to the effect that polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAs, are widely used in oil and natural gas fracking. PFAs are a forever chemical — meaning they persist indefinitely in soil and water, and wind up entering the food chain — linked to “birth…

…It’s apparently an automated message. In “The lessons from America’s astonishing economic record” (Apr 13th), The Economist manages to regurgitate virtually every lazy neoliberal talking point in existence. The (unsigned) article sets out to demonstrate, contra the near-universal American perception that “the economy is broken,” that the American economy is actually a “stunning success story”…

In “Is Working From Home Really Working?” (paywall-free version here), Steven Rattner opines — or rather pearl-clutches — that the phenomenon variously known as quiet quitting, working from home, or the Great Resignation, reflects a change in American attitudes toward work. And changed in a way that he views as “not for the better.” This…