A Field Guide to the Mid-Career Reversal
A note on the most reliable form of personal growth available to the modern political careerist, who once had principles, and who now has a corner office. It is one of the most beautiful…
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Politics & Institutions
An Update from Inside the House of Cards
A note on the discovery that nothing was holding it up, that nothing was ever holding it up, and that we are all going to be perfectly fine, mostly, depending on which room you…
The Wonderful News That We Are No Longer Needed
For ten thousand years, the powerful needed the rest of us, and frankly it was exhausting for everyone.
The Republic that eroded. A short story.
It didn't happen overnight. The Republic didn't fall to a coup or an invasion.
The old social contract is changing fast.
The old social contract, however unequal, had a structural logic that protected workers even when elites didn't care about them because elites needed workers. They needed soldiers to fight their wars, laborers to make…
A little this and that but mostly AI.
The Chicago Boys and South America is a dark chapter and it's largely been scrubbed from polite American discussion of economics. Milton Friedman and his students at the University of Chicago trained a cohort…
When Humans Are No Longer Needed
For most of human history, the powerful needed the rest of us. Pharaohs needed peasants to grow the grain.
What If the Iranian Regime Survives the War?
Wars are often judged by what happens during them—battles won, targets destroyed, weapons systems eliminated. But the real consequences of war usually appear afterward.
Did Trump Open a Pandora’s Box in Iran?
Wars are often sold to the public with the language of control. The targets are clear.
Sending U.S. Ground Troops into Iran Would Not Deliver Victory
There is a persistent belief in Washington that overwhelming military power can solve nearly any geopolitical problem. The United States possesses the most capable armed forces in the world, unmatched logistics, and decades of…