Christopher Alexander's Utopian Blueprint
There is telling people how to live, and there is maximizing people's ability to live the lives they want.
Topics
Obamacare and SCOTUS, 10 Years Later
Even Obamacare's fiercest advocates say it has not lived up to its goals.
Biden Ignores His Own Role in Inflation
Stimulus checks, government spending, and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine are only part of the problem.
Kids Can Learn Without Instruction
"It may be the case that [some American] children give up control of their attention when it's always managed by an adult," say some experts.
Alito's Leaked Abortion Opinion Misunderstands Unenumerated Rights
The Supreme Court justice is wrong when he says abortion rights aren't deeply rooted in American history.
Landmark Shark Attack
Government officials have declared an Oxford home's shark roof sculpture a protected landmark, against the wishes of the current owner of the house.
Self-Defense Is Sexy
In America, social change often comes after a politician or government goes too heavily on offense against individuals wishing merely to stand their ground and assert their rights.
Legalizing Pot Requires GOP Support
With its unnecessarily complicated and contentious provisions, the MORE Act received only three Republican votes in April.
Medieval Geopolitics Help Explain Modern Russia and Ukraine
The events of 2022 can be seen as another chapter in a very long story: Ukraine looking westward and seeking freedom while Russia slides deeper into autocracy.
Data Scraping Is Not a Crime
South Carolina's NAACP and ACLU are challenging the state's ban on automated data collection.
L.A.'s Eternal Eviction Moratorium
Now that the pandemic is fading and much of the available rent relief has been spent, L.A.'s eviction moratorium seems like pure regulatory inertia.
Gay Weddings Return to The Supreme Court
Can a web designer be compelled under the First Amendment to host wedding pictures?
You're Wrong About Disinformation
People believe and say things that aren't true all of the time, of course. But efforts by public officials to combat them may well make things worse, not better.
A Former Public Defender Joins the Supreme Court
Newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson has a good track record on cases involving qualified immunity.
The Return of Earmarks Means More Pork-Barrel Spending by Congress
Lawmakers stuffed more than $8 billion in pet projects into an omnibus federal spending bill passed in March. But wait, didn't Congress ban earmarks back in 2011?
Drivers Successfully Challenge Debt-Based License Suspensions
Civil liberties groups argue that debt-based license suspensions are unfair and illogical since they deprive people of transportation, preventing them from earning money to pay off debts.
America's Nuclear Reluctance
The first innovative nuclear reactors designed by American companies may well begin operation in Eastern Europe before they get built in Idaho.
Photo: A Libertarian City in the Cloud
Though the United Nations has yet to recognize the Free Republic of Liberland, its metaverse equivalent will exist in the cloud.
Getting Paid in Bitcoin
Unfortunately, an automatic crypto purchase made with after-tax earnings won't lower your taxable income.
The Blurry Legal Line Between Doctors and Drug Dealers
Xiulu Ruan, a pain specialist, was sentenced to 21 years in federal prison for prescribing opioid analgesics "outside the usual course of professional medical practice."
The Decline and Fall of the Oath Keepers
How Stewart Rhodes went from denouncing authoritarianism to urging an authoritarian crackdown
The Pandemic Killed Dissent in Hong Kong
Every June since 1990, residents had held a vigil for the Tiananmen Square dead. But in 2020, Hong Kong announced an extension of social distancing restrictions until June 5, the day after the anniversary.
Ukrainians Find Refuge in Previously Unwelcoming Places
Nearly 4 million people fled Ukraine in the first month after the February 24 invasion, and thousands have left each day since.
Why a Wealth Tax Is a Bad Idea
Billionaires are better at figuring out what to do with their money than the government will ever be.
School Choice Helps LGBT Students in Alabama
The answer for students who feel unwelcome or underserved where they are is to expand the schooling market.
Biden Is Deporting Venezuelans to Colombia
"It's abundantly clear [Trump] has no regard for the suffering of the Venezuelan people," Biden said in October 2020 before engaging in many of the same practices toward asylum seekers.
Running Bitcoin Miners Out of Town
Trying to sue or zone bitcoin mines out of town is the wrong response to the tradeoffs the industry presents.
Don't Criminalize Election Lies
The damage caused by election lies is not worth abandoning free speech traditions.
States Are Flush With Cash
There's a lesson here for the federal government the next time a national economic crisis strikes: The states don't need bailouts.
Why Do Legalizers Keep Blocking Pot Banking?
Chuck Schumer claims to favor repealing the federal ban on marijuana. So why did he sink legislation that would have removed federal obstacles to banking services for pot businesses?
The Big Labor President
After promising to be "the most pro-union president you've ever seen," Biden has broken with all recent Democratic predecessors by actually governing like he means it.
Canceling Putin, Canceling Russians
Which boycotts, cancellations, and sanctions are defensible and well-targeted against the state actors who are responsible for the attack on Ukraine?
The Natcon About-Face
By going from purging anyone who does not pledge allegiance to the nationalist agenda to welcoming all comers, natcons have abandoned the original defining characteristic of their movement.
One Cheer for Stephen Breyer
Breyer led the charge against the court packers, denouncing them as shortsighted ideologues who threatened both judicial independence and bedrock liberal values.
A Future for Floating Homes
Dutch officials are updating zoning laws to allow homes that are fixed to the shore but rise and fall with the water.
South Dakota's Governor Blocks Voters on Legal Pot
Though voters simultaneously approved initiatives aimed at legalizing both recreational and medical use of marijuana, Amendment A got quickly tied up in court.
Weather Is Not Climate. Or Is It?
For years, experts warned that any given hurricane or heat wave cannot be attributed to long-term changes in average temperatures. But it turns out that climatologists and meteorologists sometimes can establish such causal relationships.
Time To Close the Car Snitch Loophole
When you plug your phone into your car to listen to your favorite band or podcast, you give police a way to rummage around in your personal data without a warrant.
Is High Inflation the New Normal?
With inflation running above 7 percent, we are experiencing the strongest price pressures in nearly 40 years.
Misunderstanding Trauma—and Resilience
Perhaps our culture is accidentally creating PTSD by expecting it, assuming that no one could possibly emerge from a trauma psychologically intact.
Greenwashing Borders
For years, immigration restrictionists have borrowed arguments from the environmentalist fringe to make their case against allowing immigration to developed nations.
How the War on Sprawl Caused High Housing Prices
Since the 1960s, planners have convinced many state and regional governments to limit the physical spread of urban areas.
Ohio's Taxman Is Tailgating NASCAR
The state's tax commissioner claims NASCAR owes Ohio more than $549,000 in unpaid taxes merely because the state's residents watched NASCAR races on television.
How SCOTUS Protects Bad Federal Officers
When bed-and-breakfast owner Robert Boule asked Border Patrol agents, who were questioning a guest, to leave his property, an agent pushed him to the ground.
Why Can't We Build Anything?
The issue has never been a lack of funds for infrastructure; it's that the money frequently ends up getting spent on something else via a highly politicized decision-making process.
Who Will Pay for the Roads?
Taxpayers will pay the tab for spruced-up bridges and rebuilt freeways, doubling down on a worrying trend.
Secret Surveillance Warrants Remain Secret
In November, the Supreme Court declined to consider an ACLU petition arguing that the public has a First Amendment right to see the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court's classified decisions.
