Category: Politics

Very Bad Theater »

Over the years I’ve participated in every performing art except dance. There are unenforced rules that guide every good performer. The Show Must Go On. Always Leave Them Wanting More. Don’t Work With Kids or Animals. And one that is just as important, but seldom discussed: Give Them What You Promised. If you said you […]

The People Who Voted For Trump »

Hillary lost the electoral college, which is the only thing that matters, but won the popular vote by a mere .3%. Against a buffoon like Trump. With the nearly all of the media on her side. With her party squeezing out a more popular candidate to hand her the nomination. With the payoffs (bribes in […]

Libertarians, Let’s Grow Up »

Libertarians have always been plagued by Purity Tests. An Anarcho-Capitalist will scream at a Minarchist: You want me to be 10% a slave? You Have No Morals! A 90% libertarian is evil and needs to be reeducated, but only after being subjected to heaps of ridicule. We measure each other, arguing over who has the […]

Memorial Day »

One Boot For Each Serviceman Killed Since 9/11 We’ll see dozen of pictures like this used to create memes this weekend. Typically, the text will say something about them dying for freedom or sacrificing their lives for our liberty. They are designed to elicit emotions of pride and honor, but they have a different effect on […]

Bringing People Together »

You want to get us together, Bernie? Then get out of the damn way. Let us peacefully decide what we want to do and who we want to do it with. Let us. . .

Incentivizing Outrage »

One of the primary laws of human nature is that people respond to incentives. Changing incentives changes people’s behavior, often dramatically. Ten years ago, if a college student suffered some mild offence, they’d learn that complaining about it would get them labeled a whiner. They had an incentive to shrug it off and move on. […]

Bernie Sanders is Right About One Thing. Maybe Two. »

Bernie Sanders is very good at pointing out problems. A few of his favorites are imaginary, but most are real, and all of them have been created by big government. Bernie has a way of expressing them in a way that appeals to our inherent class envy. Bernie’s solutions will make things far worse. Maybe […]