Few ideas in modern economics are as powerful, or as misleading, as the notion of the “free market.” In popular imagination, an unregulated market is […]
The Fantasy of the Free Market
Few ideas in modern economics are as powerful, or as misleading, as the notion of the “free market.” In popular imagination, an unregulated market is supposed to be a realm of voluntary exchange, healthy competition, and innovation driven purely by merit. Prices find their natural level. Bad actors fail. Good ideas rise. Everyone benefits from efficiency. It is an appealing story. It is also largely a fantasy. Markets do not exist in a vacuum. They are shaped by laws, institutions, access to capital, and power. When those structures are stripped away or weakened in the name of freedom, what emerges…
The Difference Between Scientific Evidence and Scientific Headlines
If you follow science through news coverage alone, it can feel like reality changes every week. Coffee is bad, then good. Eggs are dangerous, then protective. A new study “proves” something today that another study “debunks” tomorrow. For many readers, this cycle produces confusion, fatigue, or cynicism. For others, it creates the impression that science itself is unreliable. What is actually unreliable is not science. It is the way scientific findings are often translated into headlines. Scientific evidence and scientific headlines operate under very different incentives. One is designed to reduce uncertainty over time through careful measurement, replication, and critique.…
The Internet Isn’t Decentralized Anymore
The Internet was built to route around failure. That origin story is not just nostalgia. It describes a set of architectural instincts that shaped how networks interconnect, how protocols evolve, and how services survive disruption. The Internet’s core was designed as a network of networks, with no single owner and no single choke point. And yet, if you look at how the Internet is experienced today, the lived reality is far less decentralized than the mythology. A handful of companies now sit at critical junctions of hosting, delivery, identity, and user access. Much of the world’s web traffic flows through…
The Myths of U.S. Immigration and What the Evidence Actually Shows
Immigration debates in the United States rarely fail for lack of passion. They fail because a handful of persistent myths flatten a complex reality into…
When Did Protest Become a “Security Threat”?
For most of American history, public protest has been treated, at least in principle, as a civic pressure valve. Loud, inconvenient, sometimes disorderly, but fundamentally…
The Internet Isn’t Decentralized Anymore
The Internet was built to route around failure. That origin story is not just nostalgia. It describes a set of architectural instincts that shaped how…
Why Tech Companies Keep Selling “Safety” Instead of Solving Problems
“Safety” has become one of the most profitable words in modern technology. It appears in press releases, product demos, keynote speeches, and glossy trust centers.…
The Difference Between Scientific Evidence and Scientific Headlines
If you follow science through news coverage alone, it can feel like reality changes every week. Coffee is bad, then good. Eggs are dangerous, then…
Why “The Science Is Settled” Is Almost Always Misleading
“The science is settled” is one of the most common phrases in modern public debate and one of the most misunderstood. People use it to…
The Fantasy of the Free Market
Few ideas in modern economics are as powerful, or as misleading, as the notion of the “free market.” In popular imagination, an unregulated market is…
Debt Isn’t a Moral Failure; It’s an Economic Strategy
Debt is often treated as a character test. If you have too much of it, the story goes, you must have lived beyond your means,…
Why Healthcare in the U.S. Is Designed Around Billing, Not Healing
American healthcare does not feel like a single system because it is not one. It is a dense web of payers, contracts, benefit designs, coding…
The Growing Crisis in Global HIV/AIDS Care
In late 2025, a troubling yet under-covered shift has begun reshaping the global fight against HIV/AIDS. Major funding cuts from Western governments—including long-standing contributors—are destabilizing…
The Difference Between Scientific Evidence and Scientific Headlines
If you follow science through news coverage alone, it can feel like reality changes every week. Coffee is bad, then good. Eggs are dangerous, then […]
The Internet Isn’t Decentralized Anymore
The Internet was built to route around failure. That origin story is not just nostalgia. It describes a set of architectural instincts that shaped how […]
The Myths of U.S. Immigration and What the Evidence Actually Shows
Immigration debates in the United States rarely fail for lack of passion. They fail because a handful of persistent myths flatten a complex reality into […]
Debt Isn’t a Moral Failure; It’s an Economic Strategy
Debt is often treated as a character test. If you have too much of it, the story goes, you must have lived beyond your means, […]
Why “The Science Is Settled” Is Almost Always Misleading
“The science is settled” is one of the most common phrases in modern public debate and one of the most misunderstood. People use it to […]
Why Healthcare in the U.S. Is Designed Around Billing, Not Healing
American healthcare does not feel like a single system because it is not one. It is a dense web of payers, contracts, benefit designs, coding […]
Why Tech Companies Keep Selling “Safety” Instead of Solving Problems
“Safety” has become one of the most profitable words in modern technology. It appears in press releases, product demos, keynote speeches, and glossy trust centers. […]
When Did Protest Become a “Security Threat”?
For most of American history, public protest has been treated, at least in principle, as a civic pressure valve. Loud, inconvenient, sometimes disorderly, but fundamentally […]
Alex Pretti, Civil Liberties, and the Dangerous Expansion of Federal Force
The most unsettling thing about the shooting of Alex Pretti is not the now-familiar argument over whether an agent felt “threatened.” It is the quiet […]