Nightcap

  1. What holds China together? Ian Johnson, ChinaFiles
  2. Bernie Sanders was wrong about America Conor Friedersdorf, Atlantic
  3. Assessing the problems caused by the creation of America Mark Spencer, TLS
  4. Should we ration coronavirus testing by price? Tyler Cowen, MR

Nightcap

  1. Soviet science fiction magazines Winnie Lee, Atlas Obscura
  2. The truth about Area 51 Matt Blitz, Popular Mechanics
  3. If aliens contact us, we won’t understand William Herkewitz, Astronomy
  4. Adapted aliens Robin Hanson, Cato Unbound

Nightcap

  1. “Portugal is not a small country.” Afonso Ramos, History Workshop
  2. Japan’s frank and uncomplicated relationship to pleasure offered them an attractive alternative.” David Chaffetz, Asian Review of Books
  3. Getting intimate with America’s only bachelor president Susan-Mary Grant, History Today
  4. In short, give into death;” Micah Mattix, American Conservative

Nightcap

  1. Report from suburban Wichita Laura Field, Open Society
  2. Winning the argument? (public spending) Chris Dillow, Stumbling & Mumbling
  3. Space exploration escalation Nick Nielsen, Grand Strategy Annex
  4. Machiavelli’s The Prince as libertarian canon Barry Stocker, NOL

Nightcap

  1. What’s the difference between Italy and the rest of the Western world? Scott Sumner, EconLog
  2. Viruses, civil rights, jails, and prisons Premal Dharia, Slate
  3. Is YIMBYism the answer to California’s housing crisis? Apoorva Tadepalli, New Republic
  4. Even Hayek quoted FDR Peter Canellos, Politico

Nightcap

  1. The inverted anthropologist Arnold Kling, askblog
  2. Dishonesty is a core nationalist value Scott Sumner, EconLog
  3. What does the superhero craze say about our own times? Iwan Rhys Morus, Aeon
  4. The ant queen is not actually a central planner.” Rick Weber, NOL

Nightcap

  1. When America was a jihadist recruiting ground Thomas Hegghammer, Atlantic
  2. Dirty deeds gun girl cheap Irfan Khawaja, Policy of Truth
  3. A rich essay on the French Revolution James Penrose, New Criterion
  4. Their struggle against the State Angelbeck & Grier, Current Anthropology

Nightcap

  1. When things fall apart Jessica Moody, Africa is a Country
  2. Giving globalization a bad name Arnold Kling, askblog
  3. American slavery’s best essay in years Wilfred Reilly, Quillette
  4. Zara Steiner, historian, 1928-2020 Paul Kennedy, Financial Times

Nightcap

  1. The United States needs Chinese medical equipment Scott Sumner, EconLog
  2. How India is dealing with Turkey’s Kashmir stance Niranjan Marjani, Diplomat
  3. Cooking up a new constitution in Russia Lisa Gaufman, Duck of Minerva
  4. In praise of the Divided States of America Matthew Berry, Law & Liberty

Be Our Guest: “Government: The Great Post-Christian Swindle”

Jack Curtis is back as our guest, and with a thoughtful vengeance:

It is no coincidence that Reformed Judeo-Christian culture has led the explosion of human progress in recent centuries; it both set up the church as society’s and government’s visible conscience, and by reversing sovereignty from king to people, freed incalculable individual effort into the more productive directions celebrated by Adam Smith in his The Wealth of Nations. The first provided a foundation for the reduced corruption and enhanced public trust that advance economic progress; the second accelerated human achievement. Tales of extraordinary human accomplishment have always centered upon motivated individuals, ordered serfdom has never been considered very productive and slavery, least of all. This is a reality typically brushed off by those selling the idea that alterations of government structure can be used to alter innate human behavior. The idea however, remains an enduring political swindle enshrined among public educators naturally interested in producing complaisant citizens for their employer.

Read the rest, and don’t forget to add your own thoughts. As always, feel free to Be Our Guest

Nightcap

  1. The long Ethiopian century James Barnett, American Interest
  2. Indian sovereignty and King William’s War Jenny Pulsipher, New England Quarterly
  3. The Lippman Gap David Hendrickson, IR and All That
  4. How Coptic Christianity is finding refuge in America Casey Chalk, American Conservative

Nightcap

  1. Faith in a time of fascism Markus Weidler, Age of Revolutions
  2. Nation-building Alesina & Reich, NBER
  3. The hierarchy of human activity Finn Bowring, TLS
  4. Is it okay to have children? Meehan Crist, LRB

Or, why I don’t vote

I had been rooting for Senator Klobuchar a bit here at NOL over the past couple weeks. Nothing crazy, but I liked what I read. Now, I must eat my words. It turns out the Senator was a government prosecutor before she became a politician, something I did not know.

So, I am glad she’s out of the race. Being a government prosecutor is how most politicians in Washington start their careers. How many people can you put behind bars? How much “crime” can you prevent? If you’re answer is “LOTS” then you’re well on your way to a seat in federal Congress.

I’m not much of a political junkie anymore. I’ve just come to accept that I’m ignorant of far too many things to waste my time in a voting booth, or listening to politicians promise me stuff.

I understand that democracy is the the worst form of government, except for all the others. But I’m ignorant. When I’m old, and bored, I’ll probably get back into politics. I can think of nothing more intellectually stimulating, actually, than participating in political events as a senior citizen. The crowds, the organizational effort, the sense of belonging. I get it now.

The most heartening, encouraging thing I’ve read about the American primaries is that young people are still staying away from the polls. Liberty is alive, well, and aflame.

Nightcap

  1. Normal Joe (Biden) and the 2020 election Jacques Delacroix, NOL
  2. More campaign finance fiction Ethan Blevins, NOL
  3. The Good Life vs reality Mary Lucia Darst, NOL
  4. Prediction: Trump-Sanders 2016 Rick Weber, NOL
  5. “Medicare For All” will never work: a Brazilian view Bruno Gonçalves Rosi, NOL
  6. Bernie fans should want Bernie to lose the primary Bill Rein, NOL

Nightcap

  1. Bernie, Cuba, literary, and ill-gotten gains Irfan Khawaja, Policy of Truth
  2. The weird global coronavirus data Scott Sumner, EconLog
  3. Why the Fed shouldn’t “Do Nothing” George Selgin, Alt-M
  4. Corporatism (“anarchy”) on the Indian subcontinent Priya Satia, LARB