“Anew Harvard-Harris poll shows that 60 percent of voters believe teachers unions should stay out of politics. A differently worded poll would likely reveal even stronger sentiment. Ask voters whether union dues pulled straight from teachers’ paychecks should fund political activity, and the numbers would likely climb higher. The public already senses what many teachers have lived: unions exist more for activism than for academics. The National Education Association’s annual financial report confirms the imbalance.” (03/24/26)
“‘I’m not saying we should run government like a business,’ Tom Steyer told a questioner at the latest in a series of question-and-answer sessions he’s been holding around the state as he campaigns for governor of California. ‘There’s a big fight right now between working people and rich companies who want to control our government and rip people off.’ If I didn’t tell you that Steyer was himself a billionaire business titan until he left the hedge fund he founded, Farallon Capital Management, in 2012, you might have assumed from the above exchange that he was a Bernie Sanders acolyte who camped overnight at Occupy Wall Street. He’s running for governor, even more so than in his unsuccessful 2020 presidential run, as a traitor to his class …” (03/24/26)
“From Korea to Iran, the United States has employed countless euphemisms that not only obscure the true nature of its wars but also the constitutional limits designed to constrain them.” (03/24/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Wanjiru Njoya
“Individualism certainly means different things to different people, a point which Friedrich von Hayek highlighted in distinguishing between true and false individualism. He observed that individualism ‘has been used to describe several attitudes toward society which have as little in common among themselves as they have with those traditionally regarded as their opposites.’ It is important to bear this in mind when considering whether a political view is compatible with individualism. Much depends on what is meant by individualism in the first place.” (03/24/26)
“About 10 years ago, backlash against an influx of Eastern European immigrants – mainly from Poland – helped propel Brexit, the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union. (That, in turn, led thousands of Poles to leave the U.K.) A little more than 10 days ago, The London Times published a guide for citizens of the U.K. about picking up their lives and moving … to Poland! ‘With a lower cost of living and a booming tech industry, [Poland] is calling to many Brits,’ the Times stated. This turnaround highlights how economic progress in the formerly communist nation has taken place side by side with growth in democratic values and institutions that reward individual effort and innovation. ‘Poland … stands as one of history’s most remarkable examples of how embracing democratic institutions and a free-market economy can radically transform a nation and propel it [to] rapid development,’ the Atlantic Council noted in a report last year.” (03/23/26)
“The logic of the war at present offers a stark choice: either expand the mission to regime change — which will entail the use of large numbers of ground troops for an extended period of time — or else pocket the tactical gains achieved today and pursue an off-ramp. In light of the costs and with the war’s stated goals secure, Trump should work to end the conflict and reestablish the stable flow of oil and natural gas onto world markets, shoring up the U.S. and global economies. Caution is called for: However hard the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program were, talks to end the war are likely to be harder. Both sides will need to ignore things they want, stop doing things they want to keep doing, and restrain potential spoilers.” (03/24/26)
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“When I first published my interpretation of the implications of Coase’s article ‘The Problem of Social Cost,’ Coase was a colleague of mine at the University of Chicago Law School. His comment on the piece was that one never understands one’s ideas until someone else explains them to you. I suspected at the time that the comment was intended to be gently critical of my interpretation, only worked out more precisely why many years later, rereading the body of his work in the process of writing a review of his final book. Coase thought of the article primarily as a critique of modern economics. Since I was an economist with a position in a law school I read it for its implications for constructing legal systems. This is an account of his ideas from my point of view, not necessarily his.” (03/23/26)
“If feminism means standing for all women, then the silence surrounding Iranian women today demands an answer. Not all women are free — and not all feminists are willing to say so. Members of Iran’s women’s national soccer team recently sought asylum in Australia after refusing to sing the Islamic Republic’s national anthem. For that act alone, an act of conscience, they were treated as enemies of the state. Some were ultimately forced to return to Iran after being warned that their families’ lives were at risk. That is what courage looks like in Iran: choosing between your own freedom and the safety of the people you love most.” (03/23/26)
“How much would it cost to bribe a Daily Caller writer for positive coverage? It could be cheaper than you think. According to a newly unearthed ledger kept by a Washington lobbyist who tracked his payments to conservative bloggers, it took only $500 to buy a story in the publication, which was one of a handful caught in the latest payola scandal. And though the story appeared under the byline of the Caller’s managing editor, prosecutors who unearthed the ledger say it was actually ghostwritten by the company that effectively bought the coverage. The spreadsheet listing these transactions was seized by the FBI as part of a 2020 investigation into a fraudulent cryptocurrency promoted by infamous Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.” (03/24/26)
