“As [Thomas] Szasz shows, this conspiracy to domesticate civilization’s neurological malcontents is achieved by declaring our numerous eccentricities to be medical ailments treatable by a variety of forms of therapeutic coercion, from the simple quick fix of pharmaceutical intervention to our involuntary internment at glorified prison camps deemed inpatient facilities. Szasz didn’t reject psychotherapy entirely, however. In fact, he encouraged its widespread use as a means for consenting adults to seek outside guidance in order to ‘learn more about themselves, others and life.’ In other words, Dr. Szasz advocated that therapists behave more like shamans than priests while deriding any notion of mental health being pathologized as a corrupt junk science that deprives the individual of autonomy and basic human dignity.” (05/17/26)
“Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp recently announced that he will call the Georgia General Assembly into a special session, beginning on June 17, in part to redraw the state’s 14 congressional districts ahead of the 2028 midterm election. Kemp had previously rejected pressure to redraw the maps before the May 19 general primary. Early in-person voting in Georgia began on April 27. Why redistrict in Georgia in 2026 for maps that won’t be used until 2028? Kemp is a Republican. Both chambers of the Georgia General Assembly are Republican. But constitutional officers are on the ballot in 2026, as is every member of the state legislature. Although it’s unlikely that Democrats will pick up control of the legislature, Kemp’s successor could be a Democrat.” (05/17/26)
“Recycling some things is sensible, others not so much. Recycling the 4 tonne rare earth magnet in an ocean going windmill makes excellent sense. Pulling the tiny rare earth magnets out of EarPods very much less. The rare earth content of a metal halide bulb is in the milligrammes range — collecting a million lightbulbs to produce a few kg of something worth perhaps $300 is insane. The overall aim is, after all, to preserve resources. Which is entirely fine, obviously, but we must be accurate about what is a resource that must be saved. The human effort which goes into this work is, we insist, one such resource that must be added into the calculation. Collecting a 4 tonne magnet, collecting 1 million lightbulbs. The time people must spend sorting household rubbish for recycling is one of those resources.” (05/17/26)
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Michael D Swaine
“Trump takes a stance toward China that is neither one of conventional engagement nor do-or-die great power competition. He apparently thinks that if he can make some great deals with Xi on Taiwan, on trade, and technology, etc., the great power problem will be resolved, and he can take another step toward his long-coveted Nobel Peace Prize. The problem with Trump’s novel treatment of the China-U.S. relationship is rather obvious, however. Great power relations are not real estate deals.” (05/17/26)
“Once upon a time, such wildly futuristic madness would have been left to the most dystopian of science-fiction novels — and undoubtedly not very popular ones at that, since such a plot and such a president would (once upon a time) have seemed far too unrealistic even for fiction. But now, thanks to President Donald J. Trump, the United States of America, in addition to all its other warring acts of recent months, is distinctly at war — and there’s no other adequate word for it — with Planet Earth (at least as a habitable place for future versions of us).” (05/17/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott
“After a recent Andean Community (CAN) ruling, Ecuador and Colombia have been forced into a climbdown from an escalating trade war that has been heating up since the beginning of 2026. … CAN, formed in 1969 following the Cartagena Agreement and composed of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Per — since then expanding to include Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay as associate members and Chile leaving in 1976 — is explicitly set up to deal with trade in goods and services, the regulation of a customs union between members, a common market, and even foreign policy.” (05/17/26)
“Because California is the ‘authoritarian law idea? Hold my beer!’ state, governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation last October which requires operating system providers to collect age information on each new user account, and provide an API that lets Internet platforms and app developers access that information so as to exclude users Gavin Newsom doesn’t think should be using those platforms and apps [“for the chillllllllllldren”]. It’s almost, but not quite, funny. It’s almost funny because it won’t take the chillllllllllldren in question more than a few minutes to figure out ways around this kind of thing. ‘Age verification’ laws are, and always have been, political fantasy, as you know yourself if you were ever a 19-year-old college student who used a fake ID to get into a nightclub. It’s not quite funny because it isn’t, and never was, about ‘the chillllllllllldren.'” (05/17/26)
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Joshua Mawhorter
“Like it or not, for several centuries now, Hobbes’s nation-state concept has been the default paradigm and context for modern people whenever they think about government. Without having ever read Hobbes, people will unknowingly repeat his assumptions, presuppositions, concerns, and arguments for the state. Yet — with some simple logic and using Hobbes’s own presuppositions — we can internally critique Hobbes’s argument and see that his proposed solution of the state solves none of the problems he presents.” (05/15/26)
“The legal foundation for taxing every import into the US has now rested, at various points in the past year, on a 1977 emergency powers law, a 1974 statute designed for a monetary system that no longer exists, and — if the administration’s next move is what trade lawyers expect — a Depression-era provision that has never once been used to impose actual tariffs in almost a century. At some point, running out of legal justifications is a signal worth heeding.” (05/15/26)
