Do Vaccine Mandates Make Sense?

The time is now to question if vaccine mandates are worth it and I don’t think the arguments are very strong. The traditional narrative is that every additional vaccinated person is a clear-cut victory. 60.01% is greater than 60% and therefore we have potentially saved a life. But frankly, people have the right to commit suicide. Forcing people into doing the right thing™ is a dangerous game with real consequences. People can become blinded by righteousness of the correct decision without taking into account behavioral economics or externalities. These mandates are a card that society should play only in the most extreme of circumstance. Is COVID-19 really worth it?

I’m skeptical.

What is Modern Fascism?

The fascism of the 1900s is no more. With the fall of communism, democracy and familiar autocracy has risen without competition for nearly a generation. But in media we find it again and again, ‘fascism is on the rise’. But where is it? What is fascism in this new context? Honest conversations about fascism are hard to have. Often in fear that our audience may come to agree with the axioms of the struggle we, much like in a discussion of communism, need to preface our talk by saying it is in fact evil. In our childish attempts to make the world feel less chaotic we tell the comforting lie that men are the product of their environment and not a product of individual malevolence. We do ourselves a great disservice by engaging in this exercise. First because fascists do not agree that evil comes from circumstance and second because in a democracy those who treat the masses like sheep who are to be herded into enlightenment are destined to be surprised by the existence of wolves. The innovations of the mass rally, the working class militia, the rancor against the rising tides of liberalism and bolshevism has all been subverted and rolled into the democratic framework. It is difficult now to differentiate between a populist and a fascist, those who extol the virtue and love of the nation between those who praise the nation-state. Who is to say which is the fascist? Modern fascism is far more nuanced than many want to believe.

The (not so secret) War Against Coincidence

There is no easier way to drive web traffic (or electoral results) than outrage. Formulating connections between events in real time and how, inexplicably, they prove that The Enemy is out to get you and the only way to save this country is to stand up and fight back against those MARXISTS on capital hill. Similarly we read headlines about how our DEMOCRACY is UNDER THREAT if THE ENEMY gets re-elected again and you better STAND UP against these FASCIST WHITE SUPREMECISTS.

Liberalism in Decline

In Europe, the experiment of multi-culturalism, cooperation, and a shared governing vision for their future is under threat. From Hungary, Poland, to Italy and Brexit, the European Union is increasingly showing its strain and inability to adapt to broad geographical and cultural differences (especially between its northern and southern states).

Why aren’t poor Americans more liberal?

How is it that in a modern democracy, political movements which are explicitly built on funneling vast quantities of money to the poor are so wildly unpopular among the poor?

Like so many other situations in politics, the modern leftist finds themselves in the uncomfortable situation of proclaiming that societal woe is the net result of Rational Self Interest, and, simultaneously, that people behave against their Rational Self Interest. Let’s dig into that.

Team Trump and COVID-19: Dumbest Kids in the Room

As far as election narratives go, Trumps approach can be considered erratic at best and inept at worst. The time honored tradition of controlling the media cycle by inventing a new ‘story’ doesn’t work so great when the story you are trying to distract from (poor debate) was actually better than the new story (Trump and something like 30% of his inner circle catch COVID). Back during the 2016 campaign there was a view that Tump was a shrewd manipulator, his public persona was not reflective of his interior views or behaviors. Beneath the barely cognizant policy proposals was the presumed brilliance that built a multi-million dollar empire. With one month until election the timing couldn’t be worse for a nearly irrefutable (and maybe a bit absurd) revelation; Team Trump may just be this inept and the people he decided to surround himself are the dumbest kids in the room.

Ideology Post Trump: Where do we go from here?

Ideological turmoil in America has reached unprecedented heights. With conservatives falling into the unfalsifiable throws of populism and Liberals fetishizing 1960 solutions to 2020 problems, both appear lost in moving through the 21^st century. What comes after Trump for the populist? What comes after liberals fail yet again to implement a child’s imitation of the Great Society?