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Liberty

Snyder’s On Tyranny

Prof. Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny: ‘Lesssons from the Twentieth Century’ (2017) recently came my way. By design, it’s a brief presentation of twenty lessons that Snyder has discerned after a long career as a historian, with significant study and research on twentieth-century European history. It’s a small, inviting pamphlet addressing a big, unwelcome subject. We’ve…

The Democratic National Convention 2020, Second Night: The Roll Call Vote That Looks Like America

Under the threat from Trumpism, the Democrats of this convention have built a coalition, of themselves supportive independents, that looks like America. In their roll call vote last night, one saw the success of their efforts. Those opposed to Trump might have wilted under pressure from the power of the federal executive branch, but they…

The Democratic National Convention 2020, First Night: Kristin Urquiza Remembers Her Father

So, the Democrats held the first night of their audiovisual convention Monday night. There were, watching, millions of us who are not Democrats, but are yet resolved and confirmed against Trump his autocratic nativism. Although some like us have melted away, for the remnant of which we are a part Never Trump means never Trump.  We…

Whitewater, Wisconsin’s Temporary Mask Ordinance: 7 Points

Updated evening of 7.22.20 with meeting video. (The discussion on Whitewater’s mask ordinance runs from 31:09 to 3:37:50.) At last night’s meeting of the Whitewater Common Council, the seven-member council voted unanimously for a temporary mask ordinance, taking effect 8.1.20 and running through 12.31.20, requiring masks in parts of buildings open to the public, and…

Individual Responsibility in Conditions of Pandemic

Economist Robert Samuelson, writing Americans are historically unhappy. But there’s a lesson to learn here, observes that The connecting threads of these pessimistic surveys are the novel coronavirus and its devastating impact on the economy. Nearly everyone is affected in one way or another. There’s a clash between America’s individualistic culture (“You can’t make me wear…

An Example of Bottomless Ignorance in Walworth County

Some residents of Walworth County, Wisconsin object to public health measures to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. So hysterical is their opposition that one reads Opponents say county’s coronavirus safeguards are ‘like Russia’: Confronted by a raucous crowd of opponents fearing government intrusion, Walworth County Board members have backed away from a measure…

Israeli Discipline, American Disorder

Free expression is not a rejection of reason, including reason in public health. Libertarian politics – of free markets in capital, labor, and goods, of responsible government, of individual liberty, and of peaceful international relations – requires a mature discipline. I do not support recent protests against temporary public health measures during this pandemic.  And…

Yegor Zhukov’s Message

At the New Yorker, Masha Gessen translates A Powerful Statement of Resistance from a College Student on Trial in Moscow (‘Yegor Zhukov’s message about responsibility and love at his trial, for “extremism,” shows what political dissent can be and seems to describe American reality as accurately as the Russian one’). (Zhukov was accused of “extremism”…

Forget the Tender Feelings of a Pernicious Faction

Over at the Journal Sentinel, Craig Gilbert writes about the political divide in For voters in this purple part of Wisconsin [Richland Center], the impeachment fight is a symbol of broken politics. The story establishes a false equivalence between those who support impeachment and those who oppose it, as though the conflict between these views…