Nightcap

  1. Mormonism and the culture war McKay Coppins, Atlantic
  2. Europe outspends Russia on defense Barry Posen, Survival
  3. The onion bomb and Hindu nationalism Rohit Inani, Newlines
  4. The revolt of the baristas Jacques Delacroix, NOL

Nightcap

  1. Lost and found at Guantanamo Bay Jasmine El-Gamal, Newlines
  2. Washington DC and the Proud Boys Ian Ward, Politico
  3. Should libertarians continue to be non-interventionists? Doug Bandow, antiwar.com
  4. The data of long-lived institutions Alexander Rose, Long Now

Internet, over

Yo, I never thought I’d say this, but I’m bored with the internet. It shouldn’t be this way. Trump/Biden. Covid-19. China. Morocco/Israel. Current events are meh. Could it be me? Have I become boring?

Maybe it’s just information overload. Like, Israel and Morocco basically blessed each others’ occupations during the craziest year since…1989? 1991? 2001? 2003? It’s been awhile since we’ve had a year as crazy as this one. Israel might be 2020’s biggest winner (country-wise). I think China or the US is 2020’s biggest loser.

Currently reading Mann’s Buddenbrooks, but I’m only on page 32 (Woods’ translation). Also: parenting.

Nightcap

  1. The biology of dads James Rilling, Aeon
  2. Marrying off your daughter Krista Larson, AP
  3. An anti-capitalist hegemony? Chris Follow Dillow, Stumbling & Mumbling
  4. Pegg’s essay questions (Open Borders) Bryan Caplan, EconLog

Holidays blurb

I hope you have been enjoying the nightcaps. Life has been busy. I read somewhere that so-called “progressives” are pushing to make the executive branch as strong as possible. It’s like they learned absolutely nothing from the Trump years.

Luckily, Joe Biden doesn’t pander to the loudest factions on his side of the aisle. Things are already looking up for 2021.

Andrei has a new book out: Socialism as a Secular Creed: A Modern Global History. I’ll have more on it later. Here’s the link. Y’all stay safe out there.

Nightcap

  1. Hayek, spontaneous order (pdf) Scott Boykin, TIR
  2. Karl Marx Branko Milanovic, globalinequality
  3. United Arab Emirates Rafia Zakaria, Baffler
  4. American capitalism Edward Glaeser, City Journal

Nightcap

  1. The return of European intellectual life Perry Anderson, LRB
  2. The age of dreampolitix in America Ross Douthat, NY Times
  3. Psychedelics versus modern philosophy Bill Rein, NOL
  4. Does libertarianism favor labor? Arnold Kling, EconLog

Nightcap

  1. Accidents in ideological machines Chris Shaw, Libertarian Ideal
  2. Reordering the liberal world order Duncan Bell, Disorder of Things
  3. 10 best history books of 2020? RealClearHistory
  4. Byzantines, Ottomans, and Turkey Nick Ashdown, Newlines

Nightcap

  1. Clarence Thomas and the Left Mark Pulliam, Law & Liberty
  2. Religious liberty and the Left Ian Millhiser, Vox
  3. Mughal hegemony Manjeet Pardesi, EJIR
  4. Was Shikha Dalmia purged? George Dance, Political Animal

Nightcap

  1. The whiteness of Jews Jason Brennan, 200-Proof Liberals
  2. Walter Williams, RIP Peter Boettke, City Journal
  3. Your den of theives experience Irfan Khawaja, Policy of Truth
  4. Three lessons on institutions and incentives Federico Sosa Valle, NOL

Nightcap

  1. The pre-Stalinist Soviet art scene Polina Godz, Jacobin
  2. Skeletons down by the lake Douglas Preston, New Yorker
  3. Company-states and the creation of the global international system Phillips & Sharman, EJIR
  4. Thoughts on alien life Robin Hanson, Overcoming Bias

Nightcap

  1. More on Japan’s most infamous author Nigel Jones, Critic
  2. Covid and the globalization of labor Branko Milanovic, Social Europe
  3. Can totalitarianism be decentralized? Arnold Kling, Law & Liberty
  4. Fallacies about constraints Tyler Cowen, MR

Nightcap

  1. How bad was the British Empire? Katrina Gulliver, Spectator
  2. Extractive colonial economies Marty, et al, VoxEU
  3. The strange tale of Japan’s infamous novelist Thomas Graham, BBC
  4. Cosmopolitanism and internationalism Timothy Brennan, New Left Review

Nightcap

  1. Lengthening the shadow of international law Tanisha Fazal, EIA
  2. War, peace, aid, and Somaliland Scott Pegg, Africa Spectrum
  3. Beyond Westphalia Andreas Nohr, e-IR
  4. New versus emergence Chris Follow, Stumbling & Mumbling

Nightcap

  1. Adam Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments Pannill Camp (interview), JHIBlog
  2. Sunday Poetry: Rüstow vs. Mises Alex Albrecht, NOL
  3. Millennial burnout in America Anne Helen Petersen (interview), Vox
  4. The Dunning-Kruger Effect on stature Mary Lucia Darst, NOL