(Ronald Coase) Property isn’t a vertical relationship between a person and an object, but instead is a horizontal, reciprocal relationship of exclusions between people. Since the benefit of one person in regard to property comes at the expense of someone else, there’s no logical or coherent way to invoke liberty or classical liberal principles of […]

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(Reagan in Philadelphia, Miss. | Source: Jeff McAdory) It is amusing watching Republicans going ballistic over the success of the film. The Butler, which suggests that Ronald Reagan was a racist. They argue that there is no proof that Reagan was a racist, that in fact he loved black people. Reagan: to hell with civil […]

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(Source: Pete Souza) The New York Times has a pretty shocking revelation on page one this weekend. White House correspondent Mark Landler reveals (after interviewing unnamed senior Obama aides) that the “most compelling” reason the president is seeking Congressional authorization to strike Syria may be this: …acting alone would undercut him if in the next […]

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(Source: John T. Consoli/University of Maryland via Flickr) I never had much time or sympathy for working-class renegades until I read Allison Hurst’s College and the Working Class. Hurst, a sociologist at Furman University, classifies first-generation college students as renegades if they “have learned to value what the greater society values, academic success, social prestige, […]

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(Trayvon Martin | Source: news reports) Black people are upset. The killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, and Zimmerman’s subsequent acquittal, are the most recent matches on a tinderbox of legitimate black anger and alienation in America today. Black men and boys are feared, followed and frisked based solely on their appearance. Black unemployment […]

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