by Steven Greenhut, Cause, November 29, 2024.
Excerpt:
The progressive motion is finest recognized for meddling in every little thing and attempting to ban and cajole us. As a substitute of sticking with the concept of freedom, nonetheless, the MAGA motion has determined to echo its enemies, rally folks round their cultural tribe and take part all of the enjoyable of regulating, mocking, and hectoring the American folks.
The result’s a unending grudge match, with no matter aspect is victorious utilizing the authorities to stay it to the opposite aspect. There are exceptions, akin to Trump’s promise to slash federal businesses (one thing we’ve heard many occasions earlier than however by no means quantities to something), however total it is a disturbing improvement.
DRH remark: Rely me out of the grudge match. I proceed to speak to, and be pleasant with, each side (as if there are solely 2 sides), in the event that they’re keen to speak.
by Veronique de Rugy, Cause, November 29, 2024.
Excerpt:
For the previous few many years, Congress has reworked its constitutional “energy of the purse” from a software of accountable governance into an instrument of fiscal destructiveness. Probably the most seen signal is a nationwide debt that simply crossed the $36 trillion threshold, barely three months after reaching $35 trillion. That is nuts. This 12 months’s funds deficit is $1.9 trillion and shall be $2.8 trillion in 10 years. As a substitute of working towards cautious budgeting and oversight, Congress repeatedly depends on huge omnibus spending payments, typically handed in haste with out correct assessment.
DRH observe:
I significantly preferred Vero’s opening passage:
America’s greatness lies not in perfection however in her relentless pursuit of it. For almost 250 years, this nation has strived to totally understand the revolutionary beliefs specified by its founding paperwork. Whereas we have now typically fallen quick, our capability for self-reflection and renewal conjures up hope and spurs enchancment.
Why? Two phrases. Phrases that I typically say don’t belong in a dialogue of presidency however I feel belong right here: the phrases “we” and “our.” Veronique, who moved right here from France, clearly thinks of herself as an American. I, who moved right here from Canada, consider myself as an American. So the “we” and “our” have particular which means for me.
By Matt Zwolinski, Cause, January 2025.
The ebook’s core thought, to place a complicated argument fairly crudely, is that the philosophers have screwed us all up. Philosophers, Hasnas argues, are likely to put far an excessive amount of inventory within the development of logically constant programs of thought, continuing from premise to conclusion in a neat, orderly sequence. Logic units the usual, and if the world fails to stay as much as that customary, effectively, that’s the world’s drawback, not ours.
For Hasnas, in contrast, eager about politics begins not with an ethical concept however with the precise conflicts folks face after they go concerning the troublesome enterprise of dwelling in a neighborhood collectively. Justice shouldn’t be one thing first discerned by philosophical cause after which utilized (by lesser minds) to settle explicit disputes. Justice develops out of these disputes as an emergent phenomenon, typically in methods which might be neither foreseen nor meant by the folks immediately concerned.
The take a look at of a concept of justice, on this strategy, shouldn’t be logical consistency or completeness. To ask this of justice is to ask an excessive amount of—and to ask greater than is required. We don’t want an hermetic concept; we merely want guidelines that convey a dispute to an finish and permit folks to get on dwelling collectively in peace.
by Geoffrey Miller, The Nerve, November 20, 2024.
Excerpt:
Take China, for instance. The Western stereotype is that China is the land of totalitarian thoughts management, so its universities should be wastelands of mental conformity in comparison with American universities, proper? In my expertise, the other is true.
Often I train psychology at a big American state college. However through the peak of the Covid pandemic (2021-2022), I ended up educating three on-line courses for Chinese language College of Hong Kong – Shenzhen (CUHK-SZ). It is a new, selective, English-language college in Shenzhen, a affluent little city of 18 million folks that grew to become the tech middle of China.
I encountered a outstanding degree of educational freedom and tolerance.
True, there are some political taboos in Chinese language universities. Every division has a Chinese language Communist Social gathering (CCP) political officer monitoring course content material for any overt criticism of the CCP or President Xi Jinping, or for selling unacceptable views about Tibet, Taiwan, or Tiananmen Sq.. All people is aware of what these particular taboos are and the few strains to not cross.
However past that, I encountered a outstanding degree of educational freedom and tolerance. I actually tried to push the bounds, to see how the Chinese language college students and directors would reply. Other than my on-line lectures, we had vigorous dialogue boards each week the place college students advocated for his or her views, critiqued the lectures and assigned readings, debated one another, and shared hyperlinks to articles, movies, memes, and information objects.
DRH remark: I don’t presume, however I do marvel if Professor Miller would have the identical diploma of educational freedom if he have been bodily educating in China.
