There are still a few sane voices out there, putting forth great ideas and messages that are very much worth listening to. As I peruse the web in search of what is becoming all too rare, I will bring them here to you for your consideration.
Today’s picks:
1. The Definition of Dogma
Jonah Goldberg discusses the thought-provoking concept of dogmas, and questions whether anything is really accepted as an immutable principle. Conservatives used to recognize certain dogmas, but were criticized by progressives for it. Has the right fully abandoned the idea?
The reason I get into so many fights with my fellow conservatives these days is that many of them have grown contemptuous of their own dogma. The free market is now just a tool, the Brain Trusters of the New Deal were right after all: If you put the right people in charge, they can plan your life better than you can. Meanwhile the pagans of the alt-right call constitutionalists “paper worshippers,” “vellum supremacists,” and “parchment fetishists.”
Jonah Goldberg, The Definition of Dogma
2. Conservatives Need to Love the Filibuster Again
Charlie Sykes talks about an issue that I’ve been warning about for a couple of years. Getting rid of the filibuster in the Senate, as President Trump is constantly begging McConnell to do, would be disastrous for our Republic.
In a way, it was a case study in the way the system is supposed to work; each side ought to be cautious about rule changes that can boomerang against them after the next election. That’s one of the reasons that #winning is not always the smartest move, because it can lead to #losing on a much larger scale in the future. For conservatives, the consequences could be catastrophic.
Charles Sykes, Conservatives Need to Love the Filibuster Again
3. Lessons From the Past
Thomas Sowell uses his wisdom and knowledge to present us with insight about real effects of wrong-headed policies, such as the minimum wage.
Many of the seemingly compassionate policies promoted by the progressives in later years — whether in economics or in education — have had outcomes the opposite of what was expected. One of the tragedies of our times is that so many people judge by rhetoric, rather than by results.
Thomas Sowell, Lessons From the Past
