American leaders and their loyal media pundits love to sit in judgment of other countries’ election, declaring them fair or rigged according to their seemingly meticulous standards. In fact, the real standard is that the regimes “we” like hold free and fair (enough) elections, while the regimes “we” dislike don’t. What about regimes “we” like that hold no elections at all, like Saudi Arabia? They are forgotten whenever the loveliness of democracy is the topic of discussion.
Tag: voting
Parents Win Battle to Reopen California Playgrounds
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order prompted backlash from parents, medical professionals, and state legislators who insisted that outdoor play for children is not only safe but essential for children’s health.
Call It Sour Grapes
I got my Ph.D. in economics from Princeton in 1997. Twenty-three years after graduation, I remain a professor at a mid-ranked school. The odds that I’ll ever get a job at a top-20 department look awfully low. How do I feel about this situation? The socially approved response, at least within social science, is to […]
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Oxymoron
We keep trying to make a silk purse of a sow’s ear, ie, voting for good and getting evil.
Yes, the Election Was Rigged. No, Not Like That.
It wasn’t rigged to benefit a particular person. It was rigged to preserve a system: The post-World-War-Two, military-industrial complex-centered “consensus” system.
Feeling a Little Extra Freedom Lately
Did you just feel a little breeze of extra freedom? I felt it. Why would I feel a bit freer than I did a couple of months ago? How could this happen? It’s mental freedom. Freedom from caring what government does or says.
COVID-19 Lockdowns: Liberty and Science
The Chinese Coronavirus (COVID-19) hit American shores — officially, anyway, there is significant evidence that it arrived earlier — in late January 2020. The American public was then told that a two-week shutdown of the economy would “flatten the curve,” relieving the pressure on hospital intensive care units and saving lives in the long run. The average American, including conservatives,…
Government Has Too Much Power
If government didn’t have the power to force you to close your business because a new cold virus showed up, and punish you if you ignored its demands, the American economy would still be strong. Much tragedy could have been avoided. The pandemic would have most likely run its course and be only a memory by now.
New Problems in Other Directions
How long have people been voting “for” one candidate, for the sole purpose of voting against another one, while saying, “at least it’s a step in the right direction”? I’ve even seen some people who call themselves anarchists doing this. But no, it’s never a step in the right direction. At best, it’s a step in a different wrong direction.
A Lot More People Elected Jack Dorsey Than Elected Ted Cruz
You can fire Jack Dorsey from your life right now, by deleting your Twitter account, with no repercussions beyond not being able to use the service he offers. You can’t fire Ted Cruz. Nor can those 4.2 million Texans, at least until 2024. And if you don’t want the “services” he offers, he’ll send enforcers with guns to make sure you accept (and pay for) them anyway, or be caged or killed.