So Who Is John Galt, Anyway?

Announcement by , September 26, 2019

I’m pleased to announce that So Who Is John Galt, Anyway? A Reader’s Guide to Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is now available at Amazon. You can buy it as a paperback or as an e-book. A lot of credit goes to my wife, Sherri, for spending a couple of weeks of her time making the […]

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The Man Who Was There

Commentary by , February 9, 2020

Impeachment Roundup 1. The Man Who Was There The impeachment trial is over, and the Senate voted against Donald Trump’s removal from office. I don’t like to say that he was “acquitted,” because this was not a criminal trial, and because all the facts presented confirmed that he actually did what he was accused of. […]

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It Depends On Where You Stop the Story

Feature Article by , February 5, 2020

An Atheist Reads the Bible, Part 6 At the end of the Pentateuch—the first five books of the Bible—we saw two big developments: the creation of a religious dictatorship under the rule of Moses, and the development of the idea of a covenant in which God promises the Hebrews victory over their enemies in exchange […]

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#NeverSMOD

Feature Article by , February 3, 2020

The Iowa caucuses, the first electoral contest of the 2020 presidential election cycle, happen today, so it’s a good time to look at how the contest is shaping up, what we can expect from it—and what, if anything, to hope for. I take as my starting point that none of the major candidates—from either party—will […]

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The Blue Dots of Outrage

Feature Article by , January 29, 2020

As I pointed out recently, we have just lived through the best decade ever. So why don’t we believe it? First, for those who don’t believe it, let me briefly recap the evidence. Matt Ridley recently proclaimed the 2010s to be the “best decade in human history.” We are living through the greatest improvement in […]

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The Contest of Ideas

Commentary by , January 26, 2020

Five Things You Need to Read Today 1. “He Is Our O.J.” Like most people, I haven’t been following very closely the Senate impeachment trial. Why? Because we all know the fix is in. The trial is not revealing any new information, so instead it is just an opportunity for Republicans to present their rationalizations […]

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The New York Times Can’t Decide Whether to Endorse America

Feature Article by , January 22, 2020

I don’t think a lot of us were expecting the New York Times to take its much-hyped endorsement in the Democratic primary and use it to recommend Amy Klobuchar for vice-president. Strangely, that’s exactly what they did. Yes, I know. Supposedly they offered a split endorsement for president, giving a nod both to Klobuchar and […]

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“My Soul Was Manufactured in the United States”

Commentary by , January 18, 2020

Five Things You Need to Read Today 1. Naked Foreign Policy So we didn’t have World War III, after all. I was skeptical that the US airstrike on Iranian terror master Qassem Suleimani would lead to a massive escalation, and now it looks like not much will follow–for better or for worse. Not much for […]

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What Is Autonomy?

Commentary by , January 14, 2020

From My Notebook Having published and sent out into the world my book on Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, I have begun work on my next project, my book in defense of the “autonomous individual.” Some of you have asked me why I chose that term. Partly, it’s because that is the term chosen by the […]

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“Bellicosity and Disengagement”

Feature Article by , January 13, 2020

Following the US military’s assassination of Iranian terror master Qassem Suleimani, a lot of people have been trying to make sense of President Trump’s Iran policy and the support for it among the otherwise isolationist nationalists. The New York Times sums up the sense of confusion: “Mr. Trump has yet to resolve the two conflicting […]

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Best. Decade. Ever.

Commentary by , January 7, 2020

Five Things You Need to Read Today 1. “The Battlefield Is Paradise” The big news of the new year is the American air strike that killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani in Baghdad. Before we get to the implications of this, it’s worth devoting a whole item just to understanding who Suleimani is and […]

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