“Alasdair MacIntyre was a political animal, or so one naturally assumes. He was at any rate an Aristotelian, and since Aristotle declared man to be the zoon politikon (‘political animal’), it seems safe to say that MacIntyre thought of himself as one such. Nevertheless, for much of his life he was deeply reluctant to enter into political discourse. In youth, he was (in)famously a Marxist. Eventually he broke with the socialists and made his way to Aristotelian Thomism. He spent decades writing on the incoherence of modern moral theory, giving considerable attention along the way to action theory, the virtues, and the history of philosophy. But he largely eschewed political discourse, to the frustration of political theorists who hoped to enlist him as an ally.” (09/02/26)
“It’s both common and accurate to point out that many people who go into government are control freaks motivated by the desire to exercise power over others, or else driven by self-interest to profit from control of the reins of government. But a new study points out that even when government officials are sincere and intend to make the world a better place, they often cause more harm than good.” (09/02/26)
“Academics may distrust concentrated private wealth, but their retirement system owes its origins to one of history’s great industrial fortunes.” (09/02/26)
“Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spiked the names of at least six Army officers from a list for promotions to two-star generals, a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Hill Tuesday. The removals come just days after the Pentagon chief blocked promotions of four Army officers selected to ascend to one-star rank …. Earlier this year, the defense secretary similarly pulled four Army officers, two women and two [b]lack men, from a one-star general promotion list — to the displeasure of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and other top officials. Driscoll handed his resignation to the White House on Monday and is set to depart the Trump administration after a months-long turf war with Hegseth, a move that further signals the defense secretary’s aim to impose his will on the service branch.” (09/02/26)
“When many teachers in Richland Parish, Louisiana, opened this year’s annual bonus checks, they found them 400 percent larger than last year — reaching up to $50,000, nearly a full year’s pay in one of the poorest corners of one of America’s poorest states. The bulk of the money came from the tax revenue of a single source: the five-gigawatt data center that Meta is building in Richland Parish. … Most Americans haven’t heard that story. What they have heard instead is that data centers will guzzle their water and spike their power bills — and our politics now reflect that. … AI supporters are losing the argument not because the facts aren’t on their side, but because they keep reaching for the wrong facts — gigawatts, capital expenditure, the race with China — in making their case. Here are three rules for AI companies, and the policymakers who support them, to win the argument that follows.” (09/02/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Connor O’Keeffe
“The rising popularity of politicians on the American left who either explicitly identify as socialist or, at least, don’t shy away from or disavow the term appears to be causing genuine concern within the Washington establishment. That is, of course, entirely justified. Socialism is profoundly unjust and destructive. … However, the concern we’re seeing from the neoliberal and neoconservative establishment is frustrating. Because the political order that they have built and preserved over the last half century has made the growing popularity of this kind of ‘democratic socialism’ all but inevitable.” (09/02/26)
“El Salvador’s national bitcoin reserve grew again this week, with the government confirming its holdings now stand at 7,762 BTC. The purchase continues a policy of buying one bitcoin per day regardless of its price (ever since the country became the first nation to make bitcoin legal tender in 2021). … the accumulation has continued despite a $1.4 billion IMF financing agreement that explicitly asked El Salvador to confine its public-sector bitcoin purchases and make merchant acceptance voluntary. Bitcoin’s formal legal-tender status was rescinded through a legislative amendment tied to that same IMF deal, but the reserve-buying policy was never part of the rollback.” (09/02/26)
