“After Leave won the Brexit vote in 2016, lots of thinkers who accepted the economic case for high immigration started flirting with a political case against high immigration. While the details of this political case were often vague, one word was painted on its banner: BACKLASH. The central insinuation was that staunch support for high immigration is what philosophers call ‘self-defeating’: When immigration gets too high, voters reliably shift their support to right-wing populists, who in turn reliably slash immigration. I’ve long maintained that the rhetoric of ‘immigration backlash’ is classic motte-and-bailey. If ‘backlash’ merely means ‘More immigration leads to more complaining about immigration’ then the claim is almost surely true, but also trivial.” (02/10/26)
“An immigration court blocked the deportation of a Turkish Tufts University graduate student who was detained by immigration officials near her Massachusetts home, her attorneys said in court documents filed Monday. Rümeysa Öztürk’s attorneys said the immigration court found on Jan. 29 that the Department of Homeland Security hasn’t proved that Öztürk should be removed from the U.S. The immigration court also terminated Öztürk’s removal proceedings, the attorneys said in a letter to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has been reviewing her case.” (02/10/26)
“Consumer activity slowed sharply for the December holiday shopping season amid a spate of rough weather, tariff impact and persistently higher inflation, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Retail sales were flat on the month following a 0.6% increase in November, according to numbers adjusted for seasonality but not inflation. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected an increase of 0.4%. Excluding autos, sales also were unchanged, against the estimate for a 0.3% increase. On an annual basis, sales rose 2.4%, a considerable step down from the 3.3% pace in November. … The shopping pace failed to keep up with inflation, as the consumer price index for December posted a 2.7% increase.” (02/10/26)
Source: The UnPopulist
by Kathrina Szymborski Wolfkot
“As the U.S. Supreme Court rolls back long-standing constitutional protections, advocates are increasingly looking to state courts and constitutions to protect civil rights and liberties. The shift toward state constitutions as sources of expanded rights crosses ideological lines and issues, from abortion to criminal sentencing to property rights. It reflects a basic, often overlooked, truth about our system of government: States can provide more expansive protections for individual rights and liberties than the federal Constitution.” [editor’s note: Constitutions aren’t sources” of rights. They may protect, not protect, or violate rights, but the rights exist regardless of what the documents say – TLK] (02/10/26)
“Archaeology is now revealing the grit and hustle of the Roman middle class, reminding us that civilizations depend not on elites, but on the conditions that allow ordinary people to thrive.” (02/10/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Douglas E French
“In the real world, where people actually buy things, those who can, dictate what currency they wish to be paid in. … Singer Bette Midler (influenced by manager Aaron Russo) insisted on payment in gold bullion for a planned British concert tour in the fall of 1978. The ‘Divine Miss M’ is believed to be the first major performer to be paid in bullion. … Fast forward to 2026. Wasteland Capital posted on X, ‘The big news from Davos is that the luxury hookers have stopped accepting Bitcoin but are happy to take Gold bars and DRAM sticks.'” (02/10/26)
“We live in large-scale political communities that have delivered unprecedented levels of peace, freedom, and prosperity to vast numbers of human beings. At the same time, modern science and technology have generated comforts, useful tools, and remedies for illnesses that would have been unthinkable to our ancestors. But the Enlightenment promised more than this. As the name itself implies, the thinkers of the Enlightenment believed that it was both possible and desirable to popularize reason and science and to establish self-governing societies that administer their affairs on the basis of reason. This promise seems not to have been fully realized.” (02/10/26)
