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Panic If You Must, Then Pivot

When is the last time someone told you to calm down, and it worked? I’m not seeing a lot of raised hands. Having someone tell us we’re overreacting is annoying and condescending. Infuriating, even. It makes you want to blind them with the whites of your eyes as you lean in menacingly close and yell, “No, you calm down,” preferably in public. (Or maybe that’s just me.) The point is that telling us not to feel what we’re feeling seldom works, and often makes it worse because now we’re angry, too, and that is not a good look on anyone. I want you not to panic about the ...

Socialism’s Historic Story, Past

Senator Bernie Sanders’ call for socialism has resonated among many Americans, particularly young Americans. They’ve fallen prey to the idea of a paradise here on Earth where things are free and there’s little want. But socialists never reveal what turns out to be their true agenda. Let’s look at the kind of statements they used to gain power. You’ll note that all of their slogans before gaining power bore little relation to the facts after they had power. Vladimir Lenin promised, “Under socialism all will govern in turn and will soon become accustomed to no one ...

Supply And Demand, Hoarding, Price Gouging — And The Coronavirus

Editor’s Note: Mark Shields is off this week. The following column is by Veronique De Rugy. As the saying goes, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” I would add, “and anti-price gouging legislation in times of crisis.” Yet price increases in the face of sudden shortages are an important impetus to restore supply and demand market conditions that are closer to normal. As many of us have experienced in the past few weeks, buying toilet paper, hand sanitizer and face masks has become more difficult and more expensive. The reason, of course, is that unusually large numbers ...

Will Virus Kill New World Order?

Dr. Brian Monahan, attending physician of Congress, told a closed meeting of Senate staffers this week that 70 million to 150 million Americans — a third of the nation — could contract the coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci testified that the mortality rate for COVID-19 will likely run near 1%. Translation: Between 750,000 and 1.1 million Americans may die of this disease before it runs its course. The latter figure is equal to all the U.S. dead in World War II and on both sides in the Civil War. Chancellor Angela Merkel warns that 70% of Germany’s population — 58 million people ...

Voters To Take Responsibility Very Seriously

“Let’s blow it all up.” That was the sentiment that animated any number of Republican primary voters in 2016. The “it” was (take your pick) the Republican Party, the “establishment,” the country. There were many good reasons for voters to be dissatisfied with the state of things in 2016. There were also any number of able candidates who could have instituted reforms. But that wasn’t the mood, at least not for the nihilistic 30%. It’s hard to think of a less conservative impulse than “Burn it down!” But that’s what this minority did, voting for the malignant ...

Can The Government Restrict Travel To Protect Public Health?

The issue of whether government in America can quarantine persons against their will, ostensibly for their own health and that of others with whom they may come in contact, requires a dual analysis — one of the powers of the federal government and the other of the powers of the states. For constitutional analysis purposes, since local and regional governments derive their powers from the states in which they are located, the analysis of state powers pertains to them as well. We begin our analysis with the observation of the truism that freedom is the default position. The language ...