Author: Thomas L. Knapp

Source: Liberal Currents
by Zeb Larson

“MAGA is actively seeking to immiserate the country in order to cement their power over the rest of us.” (02/17/26)

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-pain-is-the-plan/

Source: Libertarian Institute
by RT Hadley

“Mass deportations poll well, in part because many Americans believe immigrants should ‘get in line’ and follow the law. However, the core issue isn’t a nation’s right to enforce its borders. When people are willing to overlook constitutional violations to ‘solve the problem,’ they reveal a deeper disregard for the principles of liberty and individual rights that define America. If we abandon those first principles in moments of fear or frustration, we have to ask whether we still deserve to call ourselves a free society. Regardless of one’s views on immigration levels or deportation policy, constitutional rights cannot be suspended to achieve policy ends. The Constitution applies to everyone within U.S. borders—citizen and non‑citizen alike.” (02/17/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/ice-is-freezing-out-the-constitution/

Source: Independent Institute
by Daniel B Klein

“Adam Smith expressed his antipathy to hegemonic domination in The Wealth of Nations and other works. I highlight his rebuke of slavery, his paragraph calling for Britain to relinquish her colonies, his comments on the vanity and amusement of newspaper readers, his condemnation of the East India Company, his paragraph naturalizing multipolarity, and his remark about the real mediocrity of Britain’s circumstances. I close by reflecting on the enduring relevance of the anti-hegemist spirit of ’76.” (02/17/26)

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/02/17/adam-smiths-anti-hegemist-spirit-of-76/

Source: Quillette
by Tomislav Kardum

“Populist rhetoric is exceptionally effective for pursuing and gaining power, but it provides no program for the complexities of actual governance.” (02/17/26)

https://quillette.com/2026/02/17/populisms-self-defeating-trap-trump-europe-dostoevsky/

Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob

“People should be free to talk to each other about whatever they want as long as they’re not thereby conspiring to rob and murder and so forth. They should even be able to give advice. Including legal advice. New York State disagrees. The Institute for Justice is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to let the non-lawyer volunteers of a company called Upsolve keep giving advice to people facing lawsuits to collect debt.” (02/17/26)

https://thisiscommonsense.org/free2advise/

Source: Gideon’s Substack
by Noah Millman

“Could the Arab parties be the key to transforming Israeli politics?” (02/17/26)

https://gideons.substack.com/p/the-stone-rejected-by-the-builders