My favorite genre of takes is the Counterfactual Identity Swap (CIS). The way the CIS works is you take an event in the news and you speculate on what the event would be like if the identity of the actors involved were different. Unsurprisingly, the CIS always proves that the take-maker is correct about whatever… Continue reading Counterfactual Identity Swap
The Story of Eric Harwood
Eric Harwood, a 47-year-old man from Henderson, Nevada, has embarked upon a somewhat quixotic quest to draw attention to his desperate plight. Due to a serious physical disability, Harwood was discharged from his locksmithing job of 15 years in August and has been battling with the Social Security Administration to receive disability insurance ever since.… Continue reading The Story of Eric Harwood
Are Students Workers or Nonworkers?
I’ve been saying for some time now that, if the Left is going to push for more student benefits, it needs to do so under a pro-welfare banner, something it has not really done. My piece in Dissent on this topic features my latest rehash of this point: If we are actually going to push… Continue reading Are Students Workers or Nonworkers?
Welfare Schools and Psychoanalyzing Education Reformers
Conor P. Williams has a piece at 74 million that purports to be a simulation of what critics of Teach for America must be like. Apparently, in Wiliams’ view, they are coffee shop elite hipsters. As far as this genre of writing goes, Williams’ piece is not particularly funny, insightful, or well-executed. It comes off,… Continue reading Welfare Schools and Psychoanalyzing Education Reformers
Why Are Libertarians Mostly Men?
Every so often, people opine on the question of why libertarians are mostly men (Jeet Heer, Kevin Drum, Brink Lindsey). As someone more interested in the philosophical debate, not the sociological debate, I generally stay out of these discussions. However, if I had to speculate, I’d say that the reason libertarians are mostly men is… Continue reading Why Are Libertarians Mostly Men?