Welcome to my weekly digest for November 18, 2022. For new subscribers, this contains a roundup of my recent writings and podcasts, as well as links to the best articles from around the web this week. You can control what emails you get from me by
"Ironically, it is the most progressive cities in the country that are implementing a type of privatized policing by citizens that somebody like Grover Norquist might have touted in times past."
In a way, it is ironic, but from an economics standpoint it is predictable. It is not unlike the observation of those living under the Soviet economy having to rely on black markets to get what they needed - if you can't find a good or service through the official channels, some entrepreneur will provide it. Since progressive cities essentially want to end policing, people will seek it through other means.
Perhaps you'd consider doing a "Movie of the Month" to talk about a movie you learned about and watched via the database? Can even talk about a movie you didn't like. I'd find it interesting.
On the Three Worlds discussion, a little while ago I was wondering if David French thought that the transition of Christianity from the Great Persecution in the early third century to Constantine's Edict of Milan was a transition worth noting. It's clarifying to me Alan Jacobs, who seems to take a tack very similar to David French, comes right out and says "the Edict of Milan was irrelevant." Which from now on is probably the sentence I'll use to categorize this sort of take.
And I see what he's saying. I agree with him on some level, but for the most part, I find this argument annoying and obtuse. In the grand scheme of eternity, whether a faithful Christian is fed to a lion or dies peacefully in bed is of little importance, and yet maybe we all just need to come back to Earth for a minute if we're going to have any sort of productive discussion about adapting to social change.
In the link to the article about falling sperm count: It boggles the mind that such an article is published check-by-jowl with endless soft porn click bait ads, sounding the alarm about falling sperm count and wondering "Why could this be happening?" Maybe men living in a world that inundates them with endless pornography is at least part of the explanation?
"Ironically, it is the most progressive cities in the country that are implementing a type of privatized policing by citizens that somebody like Grover Norquist might have touted in times past."
In a way, it is ironic, but from an economics standpoint it is predictable. It is not unlike the observation of those living under the Soviet economy having to rely on black markets to get what they needed - if you can't find a good or service through the official channels, some entrepreneur will provide it. Since progressive cities essentially want to end policing, people will seek it through other means.
Perhaps you'd consider doing a "Movie of the Month" to talk about a movie you learned about and watched via the database? Can even talk about a movie you didn't like. I'd find it interesting.
On the Three Worlds discussion, a little while ago I was wondering if David French thought that the transition of Christianity from the Great Persecution in the early third century to Constantine's Edict of Milan was a transition worth noting. It's clarifying to me Alan Jacobs, who seems to take a tack very similar to David French, comes right out and says "the Edict of Milan was irrelevant." Which from now on is probably the sentence I'll use to categorize this sort of take.
And I see what he's saying. I agree with him on some level, but for the most part, I find this argument annoying and obtuse. In the grand scheme of eternity, whether a faithful Christian is fed to a lion or dies peacefully in bed is of little importance, and yet maybe we all just need to come back to Earth for a minute if we're going to have any sort of productive discussion about adapting to social change.
In the link to the article about falling sperm count: It boggles the mind that such an article is published check-by-jowl with endless soft porn click bait ads, sounding the alarm about falling sperm count and wondering "Why could this be happening?" Maybe men living in a world that inundates them with endless pornography is at least part of the explanation?