Jonathan Rosen writes: Thirty-seven years ago, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Supreme Leader and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, sentenced Salman Rushdieto death on Valentine’s Day for writing a novel. It is hard to write that sentence without feeling it is a parody of the opening line of Franz Kafka’s The Trial: “Someone must have slandered Josef K.,…
The Rushdie fatwa
The Rushdie fatwa
30 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, economics of education, economics of religion, law and economics, liberalism Tags: free speech
The taboo idea you can’t discuss in academia
21 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in labour economics, human capital, economics of education Tags: free speech, IQ, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
My friend the Belgian philosopher Maarten Boudry is writing about what he calls, correctly, “the most dangerous idea in academia”—an idea that can get you banned or even fired if you even suggest it. It is, of course, the notion that different “races” differ on average in IQ or intelligence. It’s such a hot potato…
The taboo idea you can’t discuss in academia
An outrageous legal complaint decision overturned
19 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in discrimination, gender, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: free speech, political correctness, regressive left, sex discrimination
An Area Standards Committee of the Law Society fined Stephen Franks and Franks Ogilvy for, well being lawyers. They sent a letter on behalf of their client to health professionals involved in “gender affirming care”. The ASC found that they had “used a legal process for an improper purpose”, censured them and fined them. I…
An outrageous legal complaint decision overturned
A good UK police officer
15 Mar 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of religion, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: Age of Enlightenment, British politics, free speech, Freedom of religion, regressive left
The Telegraph reports: A short video went viral last weekend that briefly restored my faith in British policing. It showed a female Metropolitan Police officer standing alone in Whitechapel, surrounded by a crowd of angry Muslim men, calmly defending the right of a Christian street preacher to preach. “In this country, we have freedom of speech,” she…
A good UK police officer
No Laughing Matter: John Cleese Declares “I’m Afraid They are Going to Have to Arrest Me.”
25 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: British politics, free speech, political correctness, regressive left
In the classic movie comedy, A Fish Called Wanda, John Cleese lamented, “do you have any idea what it’s like being English? Being so correct all the time, being so stifled by this dread of, of doing the wrong thing.” Now 86, Cleese has a more pressing concern about being English: whether his exercise of […]
No Laughing Matter: John Cleese Declares “I’m Afraid They are Going to Have to Arrest Me.”
Aussie Senator: US Social Media Reluctance to Censor Climate Skeptics – “This is the Problem”
23 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, politics - Australia Tags: climate activists, climate alarmism, free speech
Apparently free speech is OK, as long as the Australian Government thinks what you are saying is true.
Aussie Senator: US Social Media Reluctance to Censor Climate Skeptics – “This is the Problem”
PEN America gets captured: organization accepts Palestine as a member and rejects Israel; Jewish chief executive resigns after accusations of being a “Zionist” and not signing on to Israel’s “genocide”
20 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, Israel, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left
Every day, it seems, another group gets ideologically captured, valorizing Palestine (or Hamas) and demonizing Israel. This is dispiriting for Jews, but the latest such capture—of the free-expression literary group PEN America—is especially depressing. The decline of PEN American was first evidenced to me when, in 2015, it decided to give a “freedom of expression”…
PEN America gets captured: organization accepts Palestine as a member and rejects Israel; Jewish chief executive resigns after accusations of being a “Zionist” and not signing on to Israel’s “genocide”
Pinker and Tupy tout worldwide progress, espouse an objective morality
15 Feb 2026 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, economics of religion, liberalism, Marxist economics Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech
In this Free Press article, Steve Pinker and Marian Tupy (the latter identified as “the founder and editor of HumanProgress.org, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, and co-author of Superabundance”) once again recount the undoubtable progress that humanity has made over the past six or seven centuries. The progress described here will be familiar…
Pinker and Tupy tout worldwide progress, espouse an objective morality
In support of a pragmatic alliance
13 Feb 2026 1 Comment
in liberalism, law and economics, constitutional political economy, property rights, economics of crime, economic history, economics of religion, Marxist economics Tags: political correctness, free speech, regressive left
For centuries, atheists, Christians, and Jews have regarded one another as intellectual and cultural adversaries. Their disagreements are real and often profound. They disagree about the existence of God, the authority of scripture, the nature of morality, the meaning of history, and the destiny of humanity. These disputes have generated entire libraries of argument and […]
In support of a pragmatic alliance
The Adelaide Writers Festival
07 Feb 2026 1 Comment
in defence economics, discrimination, economics of crime, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, war and peace Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, Gaza Strip, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
Juliet Moses writes at Quillette: The furore surrounding the storied Adelaide Writers Festival, the longest-running and largest literary festival in Australia and one that receives significant taxpayer funding, has made international headlines. Our drama ostensibly begins when the Festival’s board disinvites Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, an Australian writer with Palestinian heritage. Its climax sees a cultural…
The Adelaide Writers Festival
Maarten Boudry on the policing of academia
31 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in liberalism, war and peace, law and economics, International law, economics of crime, economics of education, Marxist economics, defence economics Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Middle-East politics, political correctness, regressive left, war against terror
My friend Maarten Boudry, a Belgian philosopher, has been increasingly demonized for his heterodox views, especially on the Hamas/Israel war, since he is sympathetic to Israel (he isn’t Jewish). In the latest post on his Substack site, also published in condensed form in The Jewish Chronicle, Maarten recounts how there is a near-unanimity among European…
Maarten Boudry on the policing of academia
Sam Harris and John McWhorter: Is wokeness dead?
12 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in discrimination, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, sex discrimination
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 […]
Sam Harris and John McWhorter: Is wokeness dead?
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith Confirms his Utter Contempt for the First Amendment Before Congress
11 Jan 2026 Leave a comment
in economics of crime, law and economics, liberalism, politics - USA Tags: 2020 presidential election, free speech
For years, some of us have argued that President Donald Trump’s January 6th speech was protected under the First Amendment…
Former Special Counsel Jack Smith Confirms his Utter Contempt for the First Amendment Before Congress
Quinn Que: To save liberalism, “progressives” must apologize and abandon their air of moral certainty
11 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in defence economics, economics of crime, International law, law and economics, laws of war, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, gender gap, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, sex discrimination, war against terror
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…
Quinn Que: To save liberalism, “progressives” must apologize and abandon their air of moral certainty
Melanie Phillips explains, once again, why anti-Zionism is antisemitism
10 Jan 2026 1 Comment
in defence economics, International law, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, war and peace Tags: free speech, Gaza Strip, Israel, Middle-East politics, regressive left, war against terror, West Bank
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…
Melanie Phillips explains, once again, why anti-Zionism is antisemitism
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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