I just saw an article by venture capitalist Marc Andreessen called “It’s Time to Build.” I’m both encouraged and troubled by it.
Tag: wealth
Neither Pandemic nor Panic Supersede the First Amendment
I double-checked, just to make sure. Neither the First Amendment nor either of those US Code provisions include an “unless someone jumps up and down and screeches that there’s an emergency” exception.
Daniel Ikenson: How Free Trade Creates Wealth (58m)
This episode features an interview of trade policy researcher Daniel Ikenson from 2015 by Trevor Burrus and Aaron Powell, hosts of the Free Thoughts podcast. He explains how trade between countries increases wealth all around—and why restricting that trade is harmful to economic growth.
Ransacked American Grocery Stores Are Still Pretty Amazing
The other night I made my first post-lockdown grocery store run. And I’ll admit it was a bit unsettling. It was strange seeing a security guard. It was strange wearing a mask. It was strange feeling a sort of fear of my fellow shoppers. And it was really strange and disturbing to see shelves stripped of goods. The whole experience of going grocery shopping became a bit nerve-wracking.
Do Intellectuals Make Life Any Better?
There’s a path my life could have taken – could still take – toward the life of an intellectual. I’ve just about always been interested in one or more of the favorite intellectual subjects of philosophy, history, politics, theology, economics, psychology, and sociology (whatever that is). I’ve always liked to have big opinions on things. And I’ve always preferred toying with ideas to toying with numbers or machines. But I’m beginning to think this is an aptitude worth resisting. It’s not obvious to me that intellectuals as such bring a whole lot of benefit to the world.
Being Your Own Man Doesn’t Have To Mean Rejecting a Legacy
People leave the family farm. Sons go to college instead of going to work into the plumbing business. It has a thousand faces, but there’s this American idea that inheriting a vocation is “settling,” so you’d better go off and find a new one.
Glimpses of Hidden America
I don’t believe the “United States” has very much to do with a good vision of America. The bureaucrats and the enforcers typically just control, manipulate, and harass. The politicians grandstand, and the legislation corrupts and impoverishes. The corporate types join in. But there’s a whole lot more to America than the government, the big corporations, or the culture wars. I catch little glimpses of this “hidden America” here and there.
Don’t “Tax the Rich”
If you “tax” wealthy people you are stealing from me.
Preemptive Wealth Management
Most people have trouble with financial management at the paycheck to paycheck level. More money doesn’t magically solve that. The problems just get bigger and the stakes higher.
We Don’t Recognize the World’s Justice
If you don’t think that evil is punished and good is rewarded, I get it. A fair number of corrupt people seem to enjoy wealth, status, and even long lives. Lots of war criminals and ordinary criminals get away with it. Few direct restitutions happen anymore. But justice is still working.