As I wrote nine years ago, Oxfam is a pathetic organization. Originally created to help the poor, it has been captured by activists who peddle class warfare. But they play that role in an incredibly sloppy fashion. In all the debates I’ve been part of over the years, no left-leaning academic has been willing to […]
Steven Pinker wrote at the Free Press: Human progress continues, with some backsliding. Since publishing two books on human progress (The Better Angels of Our Nature, 2011, and Enlightenment Now, 2018), every year I update my graphs on the major dimensions of human well-being. Most people think everything’s gotten worse, but that can be a misleading…
Western leftists do criticise Islamic states at times—but they rarely prioritise opposing them, and often treat them with conspicuous restraint. That asymmetry is not accidental. It follows from the same ideological lenses that drive anti-Zionism. Here are the main reasons. 1. Anti-imperialism outweighs liberal values For much of the Western Left, opposition to Western power is the overriding moral […]
In this shortish (23-minute) video, Sam Harris and John McWhorter discuss whether wokeness is finally dead. The short answer is “nope.” It may have lain down, but it refuses to die. The YouTube notes (there’s a transcript you can see as well): Sam Harris speaks with John McWhorter about language, ideology, and moral certainty. They […]
The relationship between Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism is real, contested, and often confused. They are not identical, but they overlap in important and historically dangerous ways. The clearest way to understand the connection is to distinguish conceptual differences from practical realities. 1. What the terms mean (in principle) Anti-Semitism Anti-Semitism is hostility toward Jews as Jews—whether […]
The paternalistic assumption is an important strand within socialist critiques of markets, though it is not the whole story, and it varies significantly across socialist traditions. A clear way to frame it is this: some socialist opposition to markets rests on a guardianship model of society, in which experts, planners, or the state are assumed to make better […]
This longish diatribe against “progressives” (i.e., left-wing extremists who aren’t Communists) appeared in my weekly Substack recommendations. Intrigued by the title, I printed it out and read it (I can’t read on screens.) Que’s thesis is one you’ve often seen me advance: “progressives” have gone so far that they’ve alienated much of the Left, and…
Reader Norman sent me the first video below saying, “in one of your posts the other day you gave a link to an article about how anti-Zionism = antisemitism.” Yes, I’ve frequently said that and in fact did so in the last post. And I think the equation is clearly true. For those on the…
Last month, Econoboi hosted a debate on poverty between myself and Matt Bruenig. Here are my reflections on that debate.I was pleasantly surprised by Bruenig’s openness to most of my proposed supply-side reforms. He wasn’t just pro-immigration, but also pro-deregulation of housing and pro-nuclear. He was happy to admit that these policies aren’t just good…
I’m going to start today’s column by acknowledging a mistake. Two days ago, as part of my Best and Worst News of 2025, I didn’t include Zohran Mamdani’s election as Mayor of New York City because I viewed him only as “a theoretical threat.” Yes, I knew he had a nutty agenda, but surely he […]
Is it a sign of the times that this long book review, appearing in the “Science and Society” section of the prestigious journal Science, actually approves of a book questioning the ubiquity of gender surgeries? I haven’t read the book, but you can be that Nature wouldn’t give a positive review such prominence. Here’s the…
Alaa Abdel Fattah has been a prisoner in Egypt on dubious charges, and may have been tortured there. It is right and proper for the UK Government to advocate (as he gained British citizenship) for his human rights to be respected. But Starmer did a huge own goal by going beyond that and declaring that…
Why Evolution is True is a blog written by Jerry Coyne, centered on evolution and biology but also dealing with diverse topics like politics, culture, and cats.
In Hume’s spirit, I will attempt to serve as an ambassador from my world of economics, and help in “finding topics of conversation fit for the entertainment of rational creatures.”
“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. - J Robert Oppenheimer.
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