- Hayek’s rapid rise to stardom David Glasner, Uneasy Money
- Why I am not a natural lawyer FH Buckley, Law & Liberty
- British Imperial Federation (pdf) William Smith, Political Science Quarterly
- The people who profited from the Trail of Tears Caitlin Fitz, Atlantic
Author: Brandon Christensen
Wow, what a week
I think it’s time to start re-opening our society. Last I heard, 50,000 Americans died from coronavirus. And throughout the world? 191,000. There are 7.6 billion people living today.
I think most of the arguing from here on out will be: 1) on whether the relative dearth of deaths was because of the lockdown, 2) why the data don’t match up, and 3) ___________ (fill in the blank, use the ‘comments’).
I think that, here in the States, there will be enough pushback that a lockdown on such an epic scale won’t happen again. Americans long ago chose money over public health, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
This thing is far from over. Singapore has seen a rise in cases. But I think it’s time to open up shop again. Government schools can close for good. Don’t go shopping just because you’re too lazy to pick up a book. Nursing homes have always scared me, so why not rethink the whole concept? This is manageable. Government proved that it is unfit for the task. Government also proved that it is responsive to the people. Same old story, same old song and dance. That’s not a bad silver lining for a pandemic like this one.
I have more to say about federation as a foreign policy. I just don’t know what yet. I’d like to focus on present-day India, the Caribbean, and Mexico, as well as the 19th century’s Federal Republic of Central America, Five Civilized Tribes, and Gran Colombia. It’ll be a long, slow process.
Nightcap
- Why does government do stuff? Robin Hanson, Overcoming Bias
- Indian removal Claudio Saunt, Aeon
- Migrants, Muslims, and other non-people Namit Arora, Baffler
- Immigration will be another casualty of coronavirus Tyler Cowen, Bloomberg
Nightcap
- Catholicism, America, and the fascist temptation James Patterson, Law & Liberty
- The greatest financial bailout of all time is underway John Cochrane, Grumpy Economist
- Whither the precautionary principle Thomas L. Knapp, The Garrison Center
- Steel-manning lockdown socialism Arnold Kling, askblog
- What will the political outcome of coronavirus be? Niall Ferguson, Spectator
Nightcap
- A crisis of mundane absurdity Pascal Bruckner, City Journal
- Can economic multilateralism survive? Jean Pisani‐Ferry, Economic Affairs
- On Louër’s Sunnis and Shi’a Karen Taliaferro, Law & Liberty
- In Russia, death becomes you Sophie Pinkham, The Nation
Nightcap
- Why women read more than men Lucy Scholes, Times Literary Supplement
- Avenging the humbled and humbling the proud Fretwell & Kiland, War on the Rocks
- Redrawing ethnic boundaries in Tang and Song China Bryn Hammond, Asian Review of Books
- #coronasomnia Wang Xuiying, London Review of Books
Feyerabend and the libertarians
I’ve still been reading through Feyerabend’s Against Method, and following along what Rick and Bill have to say about his arguments, but it’s slow going. Sometimes slow is better than fast, especially these days.
Awhile ago Irfan Khawaja, a philosopher who has been purged from at least one libertarian inner circle and blacklisted from several others, sent me a bunch of journals: Critical Review, Raritan, and New Left Review. (I still owe him for the postage. Holla at me Dr K!) These have been veritable gold mines of insider knowledge, and I came across a 1990 article by James McCawley in Critical Review that aptly sums up my own raw thoughts on Feyerabend. Namely, the question of Feyerabend’s own brand of politics. Was Feyerabend unwilling to accept political anarchism even though he was a methodological anarchist?
I still don’t have a solid answer to this question, though the evidence so far points to an affirmative. If he wasn’t a political anarchist, what was he? Certainly not a Stalinist, but my guess is that his politics wouldn’t have been as original as his philosophy. I suspect he was, at heart, a democratic socialist along with most of his peers.
One of the more insider-y aspects of the McCawley piece was Ayn Rand’s dislike of Feyerabend’s methodological anarchism. McCawley points out that Rand read and responded to an early piece of Feyerabend’s, and that if Rand had been a little more tolerant, she and Feyerabend could have some stimulating (though no less heated) exchanges over the years. Alas.
Nightcap
- Nobody knows anything (Singapore and South Korea) Scott Sumner, Money Illusion
- The cholera riots and the coronavirus revolts, compared Jesse Walker, Reason
- Climate, disease, and the end of the Roman Empire Jaspreet Singh Boparai, Quillette
- On trying to solve the paradox of memory Emina Melonic, Modern Age
China versus the Communists; American civil liberties
I don’t know about you but I’ve come across my fair share of anti-Asian bigotry over the past few weeks. This is not a good trend.
Here is my public service announcement for the week: China is not the Communist Party. Billions of Chinese citizens are lorded over by a Communist Party. Singapore, Hawaii, California, Taiwan (see this great article), Sydney, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Jakarta have all managed to avoid repressing data and silencing scientists.
You’re welcome.
Jacques has been subtly prodding me to write an essay complaining about the loss of civil liberties in the United States due to coronavirus (“every true libertarian is doing it”), but I just can’t muster up the willpower. I realize that civil liberties will be attacked by governments. Covid-19 is a crisis, after all, but I don’t think the attempts so far are unjustified. Hear me out:
There is a global pandemic and the virus causing all of the mayhem is one we know little about. It’s a deadly virus. It’s highly contagious. Governments have attempted to protect lives. They’ve done a terrible job, and factions are trying to use the crisis to push their agendas.
Predictable, but what about the pandemic? I don’t want to get the plague. I don’t want my small children or my wife to get the plague. And I certainly don’t want to be responsible for passing the plague on to family members who are most susceptible to the virus (my children’s grandparents).
The backlash against government stabs in the dark have already begun. Small businesses and many, many workers have been screwed. If the trade-off, though, is between small businesses/lower wage workers going broke or my family members dying unnecessarily, bye Felicia.
In politics, sometimes it’s good to play offense and sometimes it’s better to play defense. Libertarians can play offense here and there, such as when the economy is roaring, or when wars are unjustified. In a crisis like this, though, it’s best to wait and see what happens. It’s best to play defense and wait for a good place to counterattack. It’s bad enough that crackpots and racist frat boys claim the mantle of Libertarian (we wouldn’t want to be intolerant, after all), but when our leading lights start downplaying this plague before anybody really knows what’s going on, it just gives liberty a bad name.
Nightcap
- Between Scylla and Charybdis Mark Helprin, National Review
- Protest and pandemic at sea Irfan Khawaja, Policy of Truth
- Scottish nationalism and free banking George Selgin, Alt-M
- What to do about China Samuel Gregg, Law & Liberty
Nightcap
- Can you be confident about an economy you can’t see? Frances Woolley, WCI
- When rules don’t apply Chris Dillow, Stumbling & Mumbling
- Show me your books… Henry Farrell, Crooked Timber
- America’s first Tiger King Nathaniel Rich, NYRB
A very short note on despotism
Democracy was once viewed as a counterweight to despotism. Democracy was also once more exclusionary, too.
However, once democratic regimes in North America and France were established in the late 18th century, despotism flourished. How to deal with democratic despotism is at the heart of the conservative-liberal split (socialists embrace democratic despotism).
Conservatives believe a stronger executive “branch” will temper democracy’s excesses, while liberals believe a stronger judicial apparatus will do a better job of keeping democratic despotism at bay. (By “liberals” I mean libertarians.)
Thus Hamilton and Trump argue for a stronger executive branch. Thus Madison and Hayek argue for a stronger judicial branch. Thus Marx and Sanders argue for more power to the people. This is at the heart of all political disagreement, and not just in the United States. Indeed, it’s at the heart of politics itself. Discuss.
Nightcap
- Russia’s Ambassador writes to the New York Times
- What AOC gets that Bernie didn’t Michael Grunwald, Politico
- Coronavirus class conflict is coming Olga Khazan, Atlantic
- Re-centering the United States in American foreign policy TNSR
Grocery shopping in Texas
This past weekend I finally got to go to the grocery store and, like Rick, I was hoping to catch a glimpse of what my neighbors valued.
All of the shelves were fully stocked, except for the toilet paper aisle. Diaper wipes are being limited, too. The grocery store I shop at, H-E-B, actually opens the boxes of diaper wipes and sells the packs in singles. (A box will usually have 6 to 8 packs in it.) I got the maximum number of single packs allowed (2), just in case.
For diapers and wipes, we have a pre-paid automated thing with Amazon, and it has worked smoothly, but we’ve also tried to stock up just in case.
I tend to buy in bulk, so we still don’t need any toilet paper. The last time I bought butt paper was in January, and we’re still pretty stocked. But being a bulk buyer has made me anxious in the grocery store. I don’t like it when some of the stuff I always buy in bulk is being limited because some people want to hoard.
The pasta sauce and pancake mix is mostly gone, too. Texas has the best food and the best amateur cooks in the republic, but when you’ve got 4 or 5 or 6 people crammed into the house all day, ain’t nobody wanna cook.
The surgical masks don’t bother me. I lived in west LA for years (Go Bruins!) and people shopped in those masks all the time. The gloves don’t bother me. The employees are friendly, as usual, but I would have quit. I know some of them feel the same way.
Nightcap
- Answering the shutdown skeptics Santiago Ramos, Commonweal
- The Communist Party in Yugoslavia Branko Milanovic, globalinequality
- Natural Law through recent American history Graham McAleer, Law & Liberty
- Learning Arabic in early modern Europe Fitzroy Morrissey, History Today
Notes On Liberty 