Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“My recent posts dealt with the possibility of libertarians and Abundance liberals learning from each other. For that to happen members of both groups have to either alter their present views or add new ones. For a simple example of the latter, my interaction with Steve Schulhofer, described in my previous post, made me aware of problems with the criminal justice system of which I had been unaware; the two of us then worked out and proposed an approach to dealing with them. For an example in the other direction, a commenter on my post linked to a piece on problems with professional licensing. That is an issue libertarians that are very aware of that should be of interest to Abundance liberals as one of the things they might want to fix.” (06/06/26)
“The United States is not approaching collapse because it lacks power. It is approaching collapse because it has too often mistaken power for wisdom. Its armed forces remain unmatched in reach, its financial system remains central to global commerce, and its technology sector continues to shape the future. Yet these advantages can conceal a more dangerous condition: the erosion of judgment. A superpower begins to decay when it treats coercion as strategy, military reach as political authority, and exemption from rules as evidence of strength. The result is not immediate collapse, but a cumulative weakening of legitimacy, fiscal discipline, institutional trust, and strategic clarity.” (06/05/26)
“The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed a second case of New World screwworm, a flesh-eating parasite, in Texas. The latest detection was found in a one-month-old calf in Zavala County, Texas, roughly 5.6 miles from the first confirmed case announced earlier this month, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said Friday. Additional samples collected from the surrounding area have tested negative so far. New World screwworm larvae feed on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, creating severe wounds that can be fatal if left untreated. The pest threatens livestock, wildlife, pets and, in rare instances, humans. The discovery has triggered cross-border restrictions. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday it will temporarily restrict imports of livestock, including horses, from affected areas of the U.S.” (06/06/26)
“Summer has arrived in Europe a little early this year and alarmists in the media say it’s unprecedented, dangerous, all because of climate change. But what if it is not our fault? What if it’s not all that unusual? We will sweat the details.” (06/05/26)
“Before Trump, we were also a nation almost universally regarded as essential: Nations believed that they needed access to U.S. banks to do business, access to U.S. markets to prosper, access to U.S. weapons to defend themselves. But by breaking decades’ worth of international agreements — not to mention threatening allies and betraying Ukraine — Trump quickly forfeited the world’s trust. By failing so spectacularly against Iran, a far weaker military power, Trump has dispelled much of the world’s fear. And now the fact that the world is managing economically despite Trump’s tariffs, while Ukraine is surviving despite Trump’s attempt to cut it off at the knees, has revealed that we are much less essential than everyone assumed.” (06/05/26)
“I don’t know if anyone but me noticed, but digital media died last month. In mid-May, a media mogul named Byron Allen bought a majority stake in BuzzFeed, which has been culturally invisible and financially struggling since shutting down its news division in 2023 and pivoting to AI content. Just weeks later, Vox Media, a collection of brands including New York Magazine, sold its more valuable properties to Lupa Systems CEO James Murdoch, the younger son of Rupert Murdoch. Companies like Vice and Vox were hailed as the future of media in the 2010s, standard-bearers of a new generation of youth-focused, internet-savvy publications that would take over from the New York Times and CNN.” (06/05/26)
“Until recently, American politics operated on a simple premise: Aspiring politicians must suck up to party bosses, run for local office, earn supporters, master policy details and only then earn a shot at higher office. That model has collapsed. Today’s rising stars take a different escalator — television, social media, podcasts, activism, entertainment or the internet — that goes straight to the top.
Their chief currency is not institutional support but the attention economy. Which helps explain why Los Angeles now finds itself facing the possibility that Spencer Pratt could make a mayoral runoff.” (06/05/26)
“The Nigerian army said Sunday it freed 360 people abducted by Boko Haram in southern Borno, in the northeastern part of the country. The operation, according to the army’s statement, was conducted in the Mandara mountains which form a part of the militant group’s stronghold. It resulted in the release of several people, including children, who had been abducted across different communities in Borno. Two infants ‘succumbed to exhaustion’ due to the challenging mountainous terrain and the hardship they endured during their prolonged captivity, an army spokesperson, Haruna Sani, said. … The insurgency in Nigeria’s northeast has killed thousands of people and displaced millions, according to the United Nations.” (06/07/26)
