As a follow-up to my last week’s post, I want to write about a particular idea of freedom from U.S. history: Liberty of Contract. It’s an example of how complicated the basic idea of “freedom” really is. Liberty of Contract is the idea that no outside entities should interfere with contractual agreements between individuals, especially between employers… Continue Reading
When I teach American History, this is among the questions I ask my students most often. This was especially the case on Friday, when my students wrestled with documents by Herbert Hoover, FDR, Henry Wallace, Henry Luce, and Friedrich Hayek. Each described their vision for what American society was or should be in the WWII… Continue Reading
On January 24, Nicholas Kristof printed a column reminding us (among other things) that our economy is getting harder. Five days later, in response to a separate incident, Megan McArdle had a piece reminding us that individual consumers are much better off than they used to be. Though making opposite arguments, the pieces shared a… Continue Reading
Non-hypothetical: You clear ice from your driveway, then decide to see if you can earn some cash offering the services in your neighborhood. Someone calls you in as a suspicious person and a few minutes after the cops show up, you’re dead. This is the story of James Baker, which served as a recent reminder… Continue Reading
With the 2016 presidential election in full-swing, I thought I’d share some of my thoughts on where we stand and where we might be a year from now. Right now, candidates are engaged in the “invisible primary,” a period in which they court donors, fundraisers, activist, party leaders, and anyone else with more influence than your… Continue Reading
My argument against additional qualifications for citizens to vote boils down to these two core beliefs: (1) Democracy is the only legitimate basis for governing authority and therefore (2) all those governed should have a say in their government – most basically, a vote, Jacob has suggested that the outcomes – what people decide to… Continue Reading
The right of each citizen to vote is the basis of democracy. It is the foundational right by which all others are ultimately preserved. As such, it must be accorded the highest priority; all other concerns must be secondary. This includes attempts to “increase voter confidence” and other claims in favor of recent voter ID… Continue Reading
“…Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…” “We the people of the United States … do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” “…that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” The through-line connecting… Continue Reading
The argument that partyism has surpassed racism is pretty week.* But I do believe “partyism” is a possible problem, one with experienced by the masses and largely caused by elite behavior. For the masses, partyism keeps us from talking about specifics in ways that might promote understanding and compromise. If our go-to position regarding those… Continue Reading
In part to be contrary, I’m going to suggest that to get this nation moving in a positive direction, we need to have a radical discussion about the basic economic realities that most Americans are facing, including the impact of race and class in our hyper-stratified society. This is not to say that tackling the… Continue Reading
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