Author: Brandon Christensen

“Must Liberalism be Atomistic?” by Jacob Rodriguez

Brandon Christensen Culture, Philosophy , , ,

During his inauguration ceremony, the newly elected mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani pledged to run the city as he had run his campaign, as a committed socialist. He stirred much discussion during his speech when he claimed that “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.” A variety of public thinkers and politicians commented on this statement, taking it as a moment to reflect on what they perceived as a referendum on uniquely American ideals.

[Click here to read the entire essay]

Jacob Rodriguez is a PhD candidate in political science at Baylor University. Email him at jacob_rodriguez12@baylor.edu.

Subscribe to Isonomia Quarterly today

“India, the Jigsaw Piece that Didn’t Fit” by Jens Norrby

Brandon Christensen History , , ,

It is reasonable to imagine a wave of unease washing over the members of the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on 18 March 1919. The council had just rushed through the passing of what would be known as the Rowlatt Act, named after the chair of its producing committee, which extended the wartime powers of the police to make use of normally extra-judicial measures to curb civil unrest. Indian soldiers played a decisive role in the British imperial forces, and there was a widespread expectation that India ought to become more self-governing as part of the settlement in the postwar period.

However,

[Click here to read the entire essay]

Jens Norrby is a historian at the University of Gothenburg. You can send mail to him at jens.norrby@lir.gu.se.

Subscribe to Isonomia Quarterly today

Print version of 4.1 (2026) is now available

Brandon Christensen Current Events ,

You can snag a copy by going here. The Spring 2026 issue clocks in at a whopping 417 pages.

To paying subscribers, yours is in production and should reach your doorsteps before the end of the month. If they don’t, shoot me an email.

Iso Q is my new baby, so I would really appreciate your support for its continued development. NOL is all grown up and in college now.

Subscribe to Isonomia Quarterly today

“Betting on Better Governance” by George Agbesi & Joshua D. Ammons

Brandon Christensen Economics , , , ,

Nothing distinguishes more clearly conditions in a free country from those in a country under arbitrary government than the observance in the former of the great principles known as the Rule of Law. — F. A. Hayek

At one point, Gordon Tullock thought taxi medallions were inefficient but intractable institutions, a classic example of what he called the transitional gains trap. The medallion system persisted not because it served the public, but because the rents it generated were capitalized into medallion prices, making any reform politically impossible. Then came Uber, and within a matter of years this supposedly permanent institution crumbled. What if a similar technology shock could do the same for societies lacking the rule of law?

[Click here to read the entire essay]

George Agbesi is a student and Research Assistant at the Stephenson Institute for Classical Liberalism, Wabash College. Joshua D. Ammons is Scholar-in-Residence at the Stephenson Institute for Classical Liberalism, Wabash College. Send Joshua mail at ammonsj@wabash.edu.

Subscribe to Isonomia Quarterly today

“Of Lamb and Man” by Onyinyechi Ndukaire

Brandon Christensen Culture ,

Most lambs were born of flesh.

But not me.

I was born with a word.

“Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals. Each according to its kind.” I didn’t know who said it, but I began to live somehow. At first, I was a microscopic cell that grew and divided; my cells formed into tissues, which then developed into organs, and systems emerged afterwards. All these vital parts of mine were sewn up together into a body clothed in white fur, and hooves that made a closing to the ends of my limbs.

[Click here to read the entire story]

Onyinyechi Ndukaire is a writer residing in Lagos, Nigeria. She believes in the power of stories and how it has and will shape the world; that is why she tells them. Her works have been published in Isonomia Quarterly, Brittle Paper, Arts Lounge, and elsewhere. Write: ndukaireonyinyechi@gmail.com.

Subscribe to Isonomia Quarterly today

Fundraising Drive for an Institutional Home

Brandon Christensen Current Events

Hi all,

After almost fifteen years of herding cats (especially here at NOL), I am officially ready to make things official and run Iso Q as a non-profit’s flagship publication instead of what we’ve currently been doing.

So, dear readers, can you pony up some cash for the creation of the Isonomia Foundation?

“The Twelve Delusions of the Lollards” by Lucy Swan

Brandon Christensen Culture, History , , ,

Beginning in about late fourteenth-century England, a movement of Christians known as the Lollards challenged many of the doctrines of the medieval Church. They raised questions about who possessed the legitimate authority to interpret Scripture, administer sacraments, compel oaths, and govern Christian life. They insisted on the primacy of Scripture over ecclesiastical hierarchy and disputed church dogma on transubstantiation, clerical celibacy, pilgrimages, and prayers for the dead. The movement unsettled the religious, legal, and political structures through which the ecclesiastical authorities exercised rule.

The poem below adopts the voice of an orthodox clerical opponent responding to such challenges.

[Click here to read the whole thing]

Lucy Swan studies history and poetry. Her poetry appears in The Clayjar Review and The Aerie, where she also serves as an editor. Send her mail.

Subscribe to Isonomia Quarterly today

“Incorrigible Rudeness, The Strategy For Social-Political Impotence” by Paul Poenicke

Brandon Christensen Culture, Current Events , , ,

Isonomia Quarterly readers have likely asked the following question: Why are Hayekian ideas so unpopular? Equality under the law and global federalism—two of Hayek’s most cogent ideals—are consequential from numerous perspectives and justified by many strong arguments. A dozen phrases pass through the mind—”The best arguments persuade,” “The truth will out,” “Survival of the fittest beliefs,” “Truth emerges from the marketplace of ideas”—to accost reality. Unfortunately, society is not a truth table, where the input of truth entails the output of further truths. Truth tables are constructs of logic, and reality is not beholden to the results of formal logic and its apparatuses.

[Click here to read the entire essay]

Paul Poenicke is a trained philosopher, specializing in social epistemology and social-political philosophy. Send mail to him at ppoenicke@gmail.com.

Subscribe to Isonomia Quarterly today

“Anarchists and Crime” by Katrina Gulliver

Brandon Christensen History , , ,

The anarchist as a figure in crime is distinct. His goals are not financial, and the terrorist acts committed under the heading of anarchism have ranged from assassinations of public figures to bombings of random civilians. He has also slid far enough into history to seem quaint, or vaguely romantic, from the vantage point of the twenty-first century.

[Click here to read the entire essay]

Katrina Gulliver is trained as a historian, and has worked at universities and cultural institutions in Europe, the US, and Australia. You can find her website at katrinagulliver.com.

Subscribe to Isonomia Quarterly today

Print copies of Isonomia Quarterly’s latest issue (4.1 Spring 2026) are now available

Brandon Christensen Current Events , ,

You can order a copy here.

If you become a paid subscriber to Isonomia Quarterly, you will, of course, get print issues sent to your door automatically…

New issue of Isonomia Quarterly is out now!

Brandon Christensen Current Events , , , ,

Enjoy it here…

New issue of Isonomia Quarterly coming out soon

Brandon Christensen Current Events , ,

In February. Perhaps it’ll even be on time.

Until then, check out last quarter’s issue here. And don’t forget to subscribe. Paying subscribers get print copies (I make them myself).

“Towards a Complete Libertarianism”

Brandon Christensen Liberty , , , , , , , ,

from Kevin Vallier, in the latest issue of Isonomia Quarterly.

Don’t forget to check out the rest, which includes essays on Hayek, the geopolitics of Greenland, the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki, and a poem by Robert Frost.

What I’ve been working on

Brandon Christensen Current Events

Hi all,

Apologies for not blogging very much. Here’s what I’ve been working on. There is more to come!

New issue of Isonomia Quarterly is out!

Brandon Christensen Current Events , , , , , ,

Get your fix right here!