The American pattern
We do not yet know what Venezuela’s next chapter will look like, what exactly the Americans will do, or how deeply they will intervene. But one thing is already becoming…
The Venezuelan Lessons
Nicolás Maduro committed the worst political crime imaginable: weakness. As I argued some time ago, there is only one real difference between a dictator and a legitimate ruler. A legitimate…
The Politics of Lost Dignity
In recent days, I have been returning to a simple but increasingly neglected idea: that a person’s core sense of identity should grow primarily out of the life he actually…
A Practical Note on New Year’s Resolutions
We tend to approach New Year’s resolutions in a predictable way: by targeting precisely those areas where we are weakest. This year, I will finally stop wasting time on Facebook.I…
In Defense of Personal Rule
In recent months I have published several essays arguing that the fundamental political struggle is not, in fact, between “democracy” and “authoritarianism,” but between a potential sovereign—call him a king,…
A World Without Socialism
I have been asked why I criticize liberalism here, why I criticize conservatism, and why I do not direct my fire against the third great ideology—socialism. The answer is simple:…