Good versus Equal: An Analysis of the Globalization Paradox
Success in the era of globalization is often presented as requiring total economic liberalization, or the lessening of government regulations to promote private entities. Dr. Thomas Friedman argues that for countries to develop rapidly, governments must adopt the “golden straitjacket,” where states make free-market reforms to join the broader economic system. Countries are at the […]
Bust or Bust: The Future of Boston’s Christopher Columbus Statue
Who deserves to be a statue? Recently, activists around the world have answered this question with “not a murderer”—a statue of slave owner Edward Colston was thrown into a river in Bristol, UK; a confederate statue was hung in Raleigh, North Carolina; and Boston’s very own Christopher Columbus statue was beheaded. Columbus’s statue was until […]
America’s Lose–Lose Withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council
On June 18, 2018, US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley stood beside Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department to announce the US’ withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council (HRC). Haley spoke of the hypocrisy of countries with abhorrent human rights records sitting on the Council and criticized its “chronic […]
How You Can Fight The Worst Company in the World
In 2010, Cargill, a US private multinational corporation, pledged a zero net deforestation goal in all production sites by 2020. Last year, the company announced it would not achieve this aim. It wasn’t surprising. In 2017, Cargill was “one of the two largest customers of industrial-scale deforestation” because of its soy production sites. Some of […]
Context Collapse: The Fluidity of Memes and Evolution of Social Commentary
Pro-Democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong wear masks depicting Pepe the Frog. By reflecting and shaping social sentiment, memes have come to symbolize localized social movements, subcultural associations, and political alignments. These recognizable images convey varying sentiment depending on context and—through constantly evolving channels or new media—can be harnessed to heavily influence social and political structures. […]
Quadratic Voting: A Solution for the Tyranny of the Majority in Democracy
Winston Churchill said, “Democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time,” and here is why: democracy can lead to the tyranny of the majority. Political scientist Richard McKelvey called this “majoritarian cycling.” Majorities exploiting and oppressing minorities can easily evolve into the rule […]
The New Yellow Peril? — Anti-Chinese Sentiment in the West
On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) a pandemic. Since the outbreak began in December 2019 in China’s Wuhan city, the number of reported cases has increased daily, so it’s no wonder that people are bombarded with news about it every day. While recent news about COVID-19’s mortality […]
On Guns and Liberty
“And I cannot see, why arms should be denied to any man who is not a slave, since the are the only true badges of liberty.” –Andrew Fletcher In my previous piece, I denounced the idea that gun ownership should be a right. Here, I discuss why firearms are antithetical to freedom. On Tyranny of […]
The #MeToo Movement Has Left Child Actors Behind
In 1988, Victor Salva, the director of Clownhouse, was convicted of sexual assault. His victim was Nathan Forrest Winters, a 12-year-old actor. After 15 months in prison, Salva returned to the director’s chair, working with Disney on the movie Powder.[1] This garnered serious backlash, as parents were outraged that Disney, a children’s entertainment company, would […]
Why Conservatives Should Conserve the Environment
When the sun comes shining, then I was strolling In the wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting This land was made for you and me -Woody Guthrie In 2017, Congress passed new tax legislation allowing for the leasing of oil rights in the Arctic National […]