The economic analysis of politics goes by many names: political economy, rational choice theory, formal political theory, social choice, economics of governance, endogenous policy theory, and public choice. Each of these labels picks out a subtly different intellectual tradition. Each tradition expands our understanding of the world. My favorite, though, remains public choice.
Tag: government
Food Delivery Rape, Protectionism, Government Murder, & Monopoly (28m) – Episode 379
Episode 379 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics: his superhuman ability to not savagely rape the attractive women he encounters while delivering food; how every businesses and economic regulation by government is just a form of protectionism on behalf of some special interest; why democide and genocide doesn’t justify the few and far between government innovations that have benefited humanity; the missing incentives and market pressures of lowering prices and increasing quality from industries that are more or less monopolized by a single provider, including government; and more.
Loyalty Oaths Compared: An Orwellian Exercise
What’s afoot? Orwellian doublethink of the highest order. Sure, the hated 1950 Loyalty Oath seems far less onerous than the new Diversity and Inclusion Vow. But the people who refused to sign the 1950 Oath were heroes standing up for freedom of conscience. The people who question today’s orthodoxy, in contrast, are hate-mongers who need to be excluded from high-skilled employment.
No One is “Mentally Fit” to be President
“Most voters in six 2020 swing states,” an early September CNBC/Change Research poll finds, “do not consider either President Donald Trump or Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden mentally fit to be president.”
Latinx, Caring, Bridezillas, Awfulness Complicity, & College Degrees (33m) – Episode 376
Episode 376 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following entries to r/unpopularopinion: Omnitree7 writes, “I really hate the term Latinx”; Zaroo77 writes, “People need to stop expecting others to care about everything”; caboose365 writes, “Brides & expecting mothers are given a pass by society to be terrible people and it needs to stop.”; Raspberry-Rare writes, “We should stop telling children ‘They can be whatever they want to be.’ They can’t.”; PianoMan1925 writes, “If you say things like ‘fuck the government, fuck the system’ but do absolutely nothing to try to change it, including not exercising your right to vote you are complicit in said system being awful”; edgyusername123 writes, “Beauty pageants should be illegal for anyone under 16. Maybe 18 even.”; and billyoceanfan writes, “Employers need to stop requiring college degrees for jobs that don’t need it”.
China’s Dark Turn
A country that was once making strides toward freedom slides further into oppression and authoritarianism.
A Defense of Atrophy
“Progressives” – those who believe that a maximized involvement of government in your life and economic affairs (not just theirs, of course) is in fact progress, i.e., the creation of a better world – see individual liberty as a liability, not an asset.
Social Isolation Is Damaging an Entire Generation of Kids
This resignation to ongoing government lockdowns, endless social distancing, mandatory mask orders, and travel restrictions—even as the virus wanes in the US—is damaging to our social and economic health, and may be particularly problematic for children who are separated from their peers.
Silence Is Not Consent in Politics, Either
When you undergo a medical procedure or volunteer for a research study, you’re presented with forms to sign, outlining what’s going to happen (and what bad things could happen), and expressly consenting to have those things happen. If you’re accused of rape, “he or she didn’t physically resist” isn’t an acceptable defense. In fact, express consent is the emerging standard, sometimes to seemingly ridiculous degrees (i.e. re-requesting consent at each stage of an encounter). Consent, I think we can agree, is a big deal in America today.
What Most People Care About
On March 26, 2020, at the once excellent but now mostly defunct website Daily Anarchist, Seth King broke almost five years of silence by publishing a piece that contained the following statement: “I don’t think libertarians, be they minimalists or anarcho-capitalists, are ever going to realize their dreams in this life. Freedom just isn’t popular.” Unfortunately, I’m inclined to concur.