Source: ProSocial Libertarians
by Andrew Jason Cohen
“Its common today to talk about an individual’s ‘identity’ and mean the group or groups they either associate themselves with (i.e., take themselves to be members of) or that they are, ascriptively, taken by others to be associated with. People ‘identify as’ straight, gay, trans, black, Hispanic, Latino, Conservative, Christian, Jewish, etc. etc. etc. What is this really? On one influential account, from (I think) Kwame Appiah (see his The Ethics of Identity), to ‘identify with’ a group is to take reasons from that group as one’s own reasons. This strikes me as a plausible way to understand the term. If Joe identifies as Hispanic, he would take reasons common to other Hispanic people as his own. Ascriptively, I gather, others would assume — rightly or wrongly — that Joe has such reasons. All of that seems entirely plausible. I also think it is (if accurate) unfortunate.” (03/23/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Michael Matulef
“AI is everywhere now — woven into our workplaces, our devices, and our daily routines — and with its spread comes a rising fear: what happens when there’s no meaningful work left for humans? AI is becoming the silent collaborator behind almost everything we make. Yet its presence creates a new kind of tension: not whether we can use it, but how we should. Regardless of the advancements in AI, the central question does not change: given scarcity, what should you do with your time, and what should you let the tools do?” (03/23/26)
“‘Authoritarian regimes have developed strong cyber espionage capabilities that enable their influence and coercion operations,’ explains a National Intelligence Council ‘assessment,’ dated April 7, 2020. … The report calls this technological capacity ‘digital authoritarian capabilities’ — yet our own government has the same. It accuses China of marshaling ‘mass surveillance and AI-driven algorithmic tracking of its citizens’ behavior at home to inform the use of soft or coercive incentives and disincentives to control them,’ but that, I’m afraid, is what our government does, too.” (03/24/26)
“When singer Joseph E. Foreman took the stand recently in Ohio, his message, like his lyrics, was hardly subtle. Indeed, counsel may have been unsure whether to examine or to hoist him. The rapper, known as ‘Afroman,’ appeared in a suit modeled after an American flag with matching flag-patterned sunglasses. He lashed out at the seven police officers who raided his home and then sued him for publicly mocking them. He insisted that he was the virtual embodiment of the First Amendment in all of its glory. The jury agreed, at least insofar as finding him protected in his parody and public portrayal of the officers. Almost three years ago, I wrote about the case and expressed deep skepticism about the legal viability of the case in light of free speech protections for filming and criticizing public officials.” (03/23/26)
“What are the conditions under which a federation or union of liberal states is possible in the international system? This question preoccupied Friedrich Hayek’s thinking on international relations from the nineteen-thirties onward as he looked to revive liberalism and ease the political frictions that were convulsing through Europe.” (03/23/26)
“As the war in Iran absorbs the world’s attention, with its images of dead school girls and flattened buildings, it may be easy to overlook Gaza. It has been a full five months since a ceasefire went into effect. It did not stop the bloodshed and intense suffering: Israeli forces have killed hundreds of Palestinians since October, and the enclave remains in dire need of food and medicine. Yet Gaza has disappeared from America’s front pages as the Trump administration’s Board of Peace, mostly bereft of Palestinian leadership, attempts to steer a peace plan to its second phase.” (03/23/26)
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Bobbie Anne Flower Cox
“hough I am an attorney in practice for almost thirty years now, I have always said that not all issues can be resolved in a court of law. I say this not because I lack confidence in our judicial system, but because not all issues are subject to the decision of a court. In other words, judges can’t have a say in everything! This is the premise behind our stalwart foundational doctrine of Separation-of-Powers where each of our three, co-equal branches of government have their own sphere of influence and power, and each is to stay out of the others’ lanes.” (03/23/26)
“There are many things Adam Smith got right about economics, including the discipline’s fundamental insight about the unplanned nature of market-driven economic and social order. He is rightly called the founder of economics for that reason. However, he did not get everything right. One of his most important errors, and one he shared with many 18th and 19th century economists, including Karl Marx, was his erroneous theory of value and explanation of price.” (03/23/26)
“As unpopular as Donald Trump’s ill-conceived, incompetently managed war was when it began, it is now more unpopular with a key segment of voters. ‘Trump’s net approval of -20 for handling the situation in Iran represents a drop from last week’s poll. Then, 39% of Americans approved of how Trump was handling Iran and 52% disapproved — a net approval of -13,’ The Economist/YouGov reported last week. While Democrats and Republicans have not changed their minds about the war much, ‘opinion among Independents of how Trump’s handling Iran fell to 24% approve / 63% disapprove (-39 net) this week from 30% approve / 53% disapprove last week (-23 net).’ The longer the war drags on, and the higher gas prices go, the worse those poll numbers will look for Trump and his pusillanimous enablers in Congress.” (03/23/26)
