Source: The Findings Substack
by Paul Rosenberg

“Modern democracies have a very distinct engine driving corruption within them, and it’s not what you’d expect. There are many drivers of government corruption, of course, but this one empowers corruption in ways that others do not and cannot. Democracies and democratic republics, especially now, involve professional politicians. And politicians, to put it very directly, are the winners of popularity contests. In fact, if we’re to be honest about it, modern elections might best be described as a type of beauty pageant, or a ‘popularity pageant.'” (10/01/25)

https://thefindings.substack.com/p/the-engine-of-corruption-in-democracies

Source: Persuasion
by Cathy Young

“The horrific murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk on September 10 should have started a long-overdue conversation about the danger of political violence and of rhetoric that demonizes political opponents. Instead, all too predictably, it set off a cycle of finger-pointing and attempts to prove that violence is only—or primarily — a problem for the ‘other side.'” (10/01/25)

https://www.persuasion.community/p/yes-you-should-both-sides-political

Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone

“The Trumpanyahu administration is pushing a ‘peace plan’ for Gaza which critics are saying would damn Palestinians to permanent subjugation under the thumb of Israel. The proposed plan would see Gaza supervised by Trump and by war criminal Tony Blair, and Netanyahu is already saying that the deal will allow the IDF to remain in the Palestinian territory indefinitely. The last time the US brokered a ‘peace plan’ between Israel and Hamas, the US and Israel torched it in a few weeks, laid siege to the enclave, and announced a plan for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. So even without all the major problems with the offer, there’s not going to be a whole lot of enthusiasm about it.” (10/01/25)

https://caitlinjohnstone.com.au/2025/10/01/the-trumpanyahu-peace-plan-and-other-notes/

Source: Law & Liberty
by Brian A Smith

“The principle of human equality is perhaps the most universally accepted dogma of moral life in our world. But this view is quite novel. In A Short History of Relations between Peoples, John M. Ellis crafts an argument that traces this transformation from about 1500 to the present. Ellis opens the book with an example of what he has in mind. The International Chess Federation’s motto — gens una sumus (‘we are one family’) — would have made little sense to most people before the twentieth century.” (10/01/25)

https://lawliberty.org/book-review/the-long-history-of-equality/

Source: Reason
by Katherine Mangu-Ward

“The presence of federal law enforcement can drive crime down, at least in the short term. In neighborhoods
where the Guard and federal police have flooded in, carjackings, assaults, and homicides dropped. Polls show that many citizens, tired of theft and violence, welcome the uniforms. To dismiss that desire for order as illegitimate is unserious. People want to be safe, or at least feel safer. And it’s popular. An August Associated Press-NORC poll found that 81 percent of respondents view crime as a ‘major problem’ in America’s large cities, while 66 percent view it as a ‘major problem’ nationwide. A full 82 percent of Republicans, and 55 percent of respondents overall, consider it ‘completely or somewhat acceptable’ for the military and National Guard to assist local police. But a military occupation of American cities is neither constitutionally sound nor fiscally viable.” (for publication 11/25)

https://reason.com/2025/10/01/cheetos-in-the-capital/