“In the ancien régime, people were famously divided into three classes: those who fight, those who pray, and those who work. That world was dissolved in a bubbling brew of revolution and Enlightenment ideals, which may be for the best, because I can’t say that serfdom particularly appeals to me. But sometimes it’s helpful to look back and consider which aspects of older societies are worth recovering. … Today, our elites work while the middle class fights. This subversion of the old system reflects both military and economic changes, along with a broader shift that prioritizes cognitive excellence over most others. Privileged young men today are likelier to find themselves leading a seminar or strategy session than a platoon. What do we lose, though, when we stop asking our most privileged classes to cultivate courage?” (11/14/25)
Source: Cato Institute
by Ryan Bourne & Nathan Miller
“During the 2010s, there was a raft of … shall we say, speculative research on the ills wrought by high levels of economic inequality. Concern about income disparities was the defining zeitgeist. Former President Barack Obama described inequality as the ‘defining challenge of our time’ and Pope Francis tweeted that ‘inequality is the root of social evil.’ Wide outcomes between rich and poor were not just deemed consequences of unjust economic trends, which is why Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton said we might worry about inequality. No, a raft of books and papers argued that income inequality itself could be a cause of other downstream social or economic ills.” (11/14/25)
“Israel’s allies worldwide are desperately scrambling to help Tel Aviv reestablish a convincing narrative, not only concerning the Gaza genocide, but the entire legacy of Israeli colonialism in Palestine and the Middle East. The perfect little story, built on myths and outright fabrications (that of a small nation fighting for survival amid ‘hordes of Arabs and Muslims’) is rapidly collapsing. It was a lie from the start, but the Gaza genocide has made it utterly indefensible. The harrowing details of the Israeli genocide in Gaza were more than enough for people globally to fundamentally question the Zionist narrative, particularly the racist Western trope of ‘the ‘villa in the Jungle’ used by Israel to describe its existence among the colonized population.” (11/15/25)
“We are at that strange stage in the adoption curve of a revolutionary technology at which two seemingly contradictory things are true at the same time: It has become clear that artificial intelligence will transform the world. And the technology’s immediate impact is still sufficiently small that it just about remains possible to pretend that this won’t be the case. Nowhere is that more clear than on college campuses. The vast majority of assignments that were traditionally used to assess—and, more importantly, challenge — students can now easily be outsourced to ChatGPT. … For the most part, professors have responded to this problem by ignoring it.” (11/14/25)
“Self-love, that is, concern with one’s interests, is part of our humanity. No conflict exists between making the most of the one life one lives and goodwill toward others. We are engaged in a common challenge — living — and empathy naturally flows from that fact. It is a pernicious doctrine, indeed, that holds otherwise. Clearly, a merchant or manufacturer prospers by attending to his customers’ preferences. Real liberals have always emphasized the fundamental harmony of interests in the market.” (11/14/25)
“The ICC has challenged Israel’s prime minister and his former defense minister for the Gaza atrocities. Several other cabinet members have contributed to these crimes. But none have been charged for these crimes. Should they be charged? Could they be charged?” (11/14/25)
“The debate over affordability is now truly and fully joined. Ahead of next year’s midterms, Democrats are coalescing around a cost-of living message that makes more sense than their anti-Trump obsessions (not that we aren’t going to hear a lot about those). For its part, the White House has concluded that the affordability issue is a vulnerability, and President Trump has thrown out a raft of proposals to address it — from $2,000 tariff rebates to 50-year mortgages. Health care will be a major front in this fight, a traditional Democratic policy strength that the party emphasized during the just-concluded government shutdown. In isolation, the Democratic demand to extend Obamacare subsides in perpetuity shouldn’t be sustainable.” (11/14/25)
“You’d have gone broke betting against the resilience of the Trump phenomenon this past decade. He has survived two impeachments, one insurrection, one plague, one lost election, one incredibly close assassination attempt, several major lawsuits, and the passionate, undying hatred of 40 percent of the country. None of it counted. He’s had, of course, some very lucky breaks: the mass migration and cultural extremism under Biden, along with the epic fuck-up of Joe’s attempt to stay in power as a near-corpse. But there are some signs that the entire MAGA operation is beginning to fray — as its manic transgressions, dumb overreach, and intensifying contradictions become harder to ignore.” (11/14/25)
“Understandably, the Baltic states were at the vanguard of a resolute response to the 2022 Russian invasion — lobbying for international sanctions, shunning diplomacy with Moscow, and even advocating for measures implying a collective responsibility of Russian citizens for the crimes committed by the country’s leadership. For example, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, the former prime minister of Estonia, pushed for blanket visa restrictions on all Russians. While Baltic state officials cite security concerns as their justification, Russian dissidents criticized the measure as counterproductive and playing right into the hands of the Kremlin. Yet, when it comes to Israel, these same principles evaporated.” (11/14/25)
“Butter is made from cream, which is derived from milk. Not a new truth; it’s never been anything but. B‑but — some people are allergic! And we must protect them. Under the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) of 2004, milk is one of nine major allergens that must be explicitly declared — either in parentheses after the ingredient (e.g., ‘cream (milk)’) or in a separate ‘Contains: Milk’ statement. Which is why Costco had to recall 79,200 pounds of butter. A labeling oversight meant that perfectly good and safe butter was placed on the big box store’s shelves without the explicit warning that butter contains milk.” (11/14/25)
