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Self in Society Roundup 72
Trump corruption, immigration abuses, Democratic Socialists, liberalism, Odyssey, education, Satanic Panic, and more.
by Ari Armstrong, Copyright © 2026
Trump Watch
Rolling Coup: Tim Wirth and Wirth and Richard Gephardt: "We are in the middle of a 'rolling coup.' . . . Conservative ideologues . . . are determined to use control to support Donald Trump and to ensure that he will never lose an election. The current executive is slowly dismantling institutional checks on the president's power."
Mass Murder: WaPo: "67 boat strikes. 221 dead. The cocaine hasn't slowed." We can be skeptical that all of the victims actually were drug runners. But, even if they were, killing them without any sort of legal process is murder.
Creeping Socialism: Hill: "Commerce Department quietly announces 7 new equity stakes in private companies."
Debt: CSM: "America's debt is skyrocketing."
Tariffs Are Taxes: J. D. Tuccille: "Trump's Tariffs Will Cost Each American Household $900 in 2026."
Reflecting Pool: Only Trump could turn the Reflecting Pool into a national scandal. Trump is the anti-Midas: Everything he touches turns to shit.
Corrupt: Matt Welch: "Donald Trump and his family are executing corruption at a scale never previously contemplated in the American experiment."
Immigration Watch
ICE Nabs Software Developer from DIA: The woman's lawyer said, "Chantal came to the United States lawfully in early 2023 on a J-1 exchange visitor visa as an au pair. She followed the rules of her program and, before it ended, timely filed an application with U.S. immigration authorities that allowed her to remain in the country while her case has been pending. For more than three years, she has continued to live here with federal authorization and has worked legally under employment authorization issued by the U.S. government.” Yeah, we wouldn't want software developers earning a living in this country. She was released on bond.
Punishing the Productive: NYT: "U.S. Employers Told to Dismiss Thousands of Immigrant Workers."
ICE Is Shredding the Bill of Rights: Steven Greenhut. Luke Hallam: "ICE Is Trump's Standing Army Now." Tracinski: "Your Government Is Murdering People Again." More Greenhut: "ICE's unraveling cases spotlight agency’s police-state tactics."
Abuse: Ohio and Immigrant Alliance: Some "ICE and Border Patrol agents have a disturbing track record of sexually and violently abusing women and children."
Evil Policies: Billy Binion: "She Came to the U.S. at 4 Months Old. She Had To Self-Deport—Because She Came Here Legally."
Callous Treatment: Beth Bailey: "Afghan Special Forces Veteran Died in ICE Custody After Officers Denied Him an Inhaler."
Authoritarian Cosplay Has Real-Life Consequences: Reuters: "Guatemalan man deported from US and wife found dead in sugarcane field, baby alive beside them."
Despicable Tactics: Michael Roberts: "Enriquez's family says ICE busted him when he showed up for an appointment at which he'd been led to believe he would be granted legal status because his daughter . . . is a member of the United States Navy." You'd think that serving your country in the military would buy you some good will from the U.S. government. But no. Shameful. More: "Trump's immigration crackdown has detained more than 50 military spouses and parents." This is what slow national suicide looks like.
"Democratic" Socialists
Mike Rosen quotes DSA: "Our fight is to end capitalist exploitation. In overwhelming the old barbaric, order of capitalism, the working class will not only liberate itself from its own shackles, but all of humanity from the parasitic death-drive of capitalism." Sounds like straight-up Marxism to me!
Bill Maher takes on the "Democratic" Socialists. Here are some of the quotes he references.
DSA: "You work as much as you are able and no more than needed." "Replace the president and Supreme Court with an executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress."
Mamdani: "Each according to their need, each according to their ability." "The end goal [is] seizing the means of production." Open Marxism.
Hasan Piker: "The fall of the U.S.S.R. was one of the greatest catastrophes of the 20th Century." "Mao Zedong is one of the great leaders of this world." Straight-up apologetics for the world's worst mass-murderers.
Cea Weaver: "If you don't believe in the government's sacred right to seize private property, it's over." "Impoverish the white middle class." "Elect more Communists."
Darializa Avila Chevalier: "Seize all properties from landlords" (repost). "Seize the means of production." "Abolish the border."
Francesca Hong: "My perfect world would be a world without prisons."
There's also a "Marxist Unity Group" within the DSA.
Reps. Tom Suozzi and Adam Gray proposed a Democratic pledge stating, "We are capitalists, not socialists. We want safety, not lawlessness. We are proud, not ashamed of America." According to Maher, only eight members signed on.
Communists to the left of me, fascists to the right. Not good.
Socialism vs. Liberalism
Socialism, Marxist and Nationalist: Bryan Caplan and Phil Magness discuss the rise of Marx's ideas and of "German socialism" and its relation to Nazism. On the other hand, Kristian Niemietz is more resistant to calling the Nazis "socialists" on grounds that, while the Nazis embraced extreme state control of the economy, they did not have even a pretense of organizing the economy around workers. I, again, think it makes the most sense to regard "socialism" as the broader category, of which Communism and fascism are types.
Democratic Socialists: Robby Soave: Maybe when leading "Democratic" Socialists cosplay as Mao and self-describe as Communists we should wonder about their motives?
Mill's Liberalism: OLL has an extended discussion on J. S. Mill. I find this interesting but did not want to read all of the back-and-forth. Here's what I asked ChatGPT on its "high" level of response: "I'd like you to crawl through all of those articles and summarize the main points, with a special emphasis on points of contention. Also let me know who you think wins the debates." It's really good at that sort of thing. Here's a highlight: "Sandra Peart offers the best account of Mill. She most successfully explains why he cannot be reduced either to a doctrinaire laissez-faire liberal or to a conventional socialist." More: "Mill was a liberal reformer with cooperative-socialist sympathies [as understood at that time] who retained strong commitments to individual liberty, markets, experimentation, private initiative, and limits on government power."
Socialist Capitalism? The discussion on Mill reminds me of something I've been thinking about. A corporation is said to be "private" even though it is owned by many shareholders. Many land properties are owned jointly. I would describe "capitalism," in the sense of justly recognized property rights and voluntary exchange, as the system that best promotes social exchange and harmony. So, if our terms best fit their referents, we'd call "capitalism" "socialism." And then we'd call "socialism" something like "coercionism." I don't expect anyone to embrace this alternate terminology, but it would make more sense of the direct meaning of the terms.
Socialist Alienation: Phil Magness: "This view, that capitalism has alienated us from the natural world, from potential friends, from our own activity, provides a crucial link between an abstract Marxist concept and rising populist movements, most notably the Democratic Socialists of America. . . . Alienation theory is a modern invention stemming from manuscripts that remained inaccessible and unknown until the mid-20th century. Marxist theorists in that era desperately needed to plug the hole from the collapse of surplus value theory in the economic realm." Although capitalism hardly guarantees that people will have good friends and love their jobs, socialism assaults voluntary social and economic arrangements and thereby generates extreme alienation.
Why Socialists Are Wrong: Alex Nowrasteh: "A price of $0, or any price below that which would be set by the market, does not create abundance. It results in greater scarcity by failing to reward producers and letting consumers know that they can be wasteful." There's much more here.
Substance Over Labels: Matt Zwolinski urges us to look at the particulars of proposals and not get too caught up with the labeling. I agree liberty-minded people can agree with some of what "democratic socialists" tend to promote.
Credit Where Due: Mamdani: "NYC's small business owners have said it over and over: endless paperwork and uncertainty has made getting their stores up and running too difficult. So we're cutting red tape, eliminating redundant permits (did you know you need a permit just to serve some ice cream?), and speeding up inspections."
Art Updates
Oliver's Odyssey: Henry Oliver does not like the film; nevertheless, I found this interesting: "The Odyssey is the foundational text of Western civilisation; the quest is the heart of modern life. We live in the pursuit of happiness, the pursuit of the truth, the pursuit of ourselves—just as Odysseus did." Neither Tyler Cowen nor Alex Tabarrok loved the film. I agree with TC that The Return is excellent. AT says "the 'woke casting' controversy is a non-issue"; of course Richard Hanania is obsessed with that. Matt McManus justly mocks the right for its casting meltdown and, naturally, finds a way to blame capitalism for it: "Right-wing trolls profit from exploiting the sense of alienation and loneliness pervasive under our very digital capitalism, channeling it into resentment directed at those considered alien and unworthy." Hillel Italie quoting Daniel Mendelsohn: "This tormented, guilt-ridden Odysseus, stripped of humor and wit, seductiveness and cleverness, is a sibling of Memento's anguished amnesiac, of Batman, of Oppenheimer, men tormented by pasts they wrestle with in different ways." Theo Nash defends the film from Wilson's harsh criticisms.
The Bride: Jessie Buckley is among the best actors working. But The Bride is a chaotic mess. Christian Bale is fun as the anxious monster; I didn't buy Annette Bening as the mad scientist (or her character's bizarre back-story). The symbolic use of cinema was interesting.
Masters of the Universe: The humor undercut the story rather than supported it. My kid loved it but I thought it was boring. Shazam is a similar set-up (magic makes the hero strong) but in that film (2019) the humor serves the big-hearted story about foster kids. There was the seed of a good idea in Masters about Adam flashing back to his boring life on Earth but the film didn't do much with that.
Mad Max 1979: I hadn't seen this film for years. It holds up remarkably well for what it is. I see why it launched Mel Gibson's career.
New Primus: Primas has a new release with the new drummer, "The Ol' Grizz." It's good. (If you like that sort of thing. I do.)
Iron Giant: This 1999 animated sci-fi film from Brad Bird holds up extremely well. The theme is we can choose our fate.
Education Updates
Schultz on Arkansas School Choice: Tommy Schultz: "Students [using Education Freedom Accounts] outperformed nearly 60% of students nationwide in math and English on standardized assessments." This is probably mostly or entirely selection effects. Schultz argues that effective programs have "clear rules, sensible phase-in, fund preapprovals, and resources dedicated to core academic expenses."
Arizona Choice Reaction: There's an effort to limit the Arizona school choice program through the ballot; Goldwater is defending the status quo.
Spending Hikes: Tosin Akintola: "American Public Schools Lost 1.4 Million Students Since COVID. Their Budgets Grew by 34% Anyway."
Alpha School: Natalie Wexler is skeptical. However, I'd point out that, if AI can take over even a fraction of the educational load, and do that fraction well and at low cost, that frees up resources for other things. I'm a big believer in fitting core academics into a short but intense burst in the morning; that's how my family homeschools (but we don't use AI for this).
Quick Takes
Criminalizing Books: Arkansas criminalizes making allegedly "obscene" materials available to minors. There is a legitimate way to handle genuine cases of abuse. Yes, there are some qualifications in the statute. The problem is that Arkansas relies heavily on communal subjective standards, something Rand warned against in 1973.
Satanic Panic: I'm currently listening to a "Things Fell Apart" podcast episode on the "Satanic Panic" episode of the '80s. It's just absolutely astonishing. The police, prosecutors, psychologists, judges, and journalists just absolutely failed in their jobs here, resulting in an innocent woman spending years in a brutal prison over claims entirely planted by interrogators. Thankfully, a real journalist and a civil-rights attorney finally rode to the woman's rescue. Important lessons here. See also the episodes on Tammy Faye, who showed humanity toward AIDS victims, and the episode on the effort to suppress books, which includes discussion of how the autobiographical book "Ni___" first was opposed by the right and later by the left. While you're at it, read Dick Gregory's commentary about the controversy surrounding his book. Every episode I've listened to so far is outstanding.
Trump vs. Science: Tabarrok: "The Trump Administration’s Threat to Scientific Research." One could argue, of course, that the federalization of research spending opens wide the door to such abuses.
Making Land: We mostly stopped doing it. Tabarrok has more.
Single-Player: Cowen: "Government-run systems often (not always) do a perfectly fine job setting a broken arm or administering a long-standing, well-known medication. They do much less well when it comes to developing, financing, and delivering a new immunological approach to fighting cancer, personalized to your individual genome at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars. . . . Over time the British and Canadian systems look worse and worse. The queues and rationing have increased, as giving healthcare away for free makes it hard to satisfy demands in a timely manner. In Canada, for instance, the median wait time has risen from 9.3 weeks in the early 1990s to 28.6 weeks today. In the British National Health Service, only 65.3 percent of patients start treatment within 18 weeks."
Mental Health Self-Reporting: Via Cowen: "Christoph Henking and Ben Baumberg Geiger found that while there has been a steep rise in the share of young Britons reporting a mental illness, the share of people who say a mental health problem limits their day-to-day functioning has barely budged."
Slopulism: Yes, legal crackdowns on self-check-out are as stupid as they seem.
Autonomy and Fertility: Revana Sharfuddin advances what I call the Tyler Cowen theory of fertility decline: "Women in advanced parts of the world are living through an extraordinary expansion of autonomy and access to opportunity." Part of Cowen's idea is that cultural norms take a while to shift. One of my friends pointed out to me that many women reach adulthood these days without ever having cared for an infant.
Powell on NIMBY: Aaron Ross Powell: "The real villains are, of course, the NIMBYs. The reason housing is so expensive . . . is that plenty of people in the cities plenty more people want to live in, or in the neighborhoods plenty more people want to live in, have decided they don't want more neighbors, and have pooled their political power to convince their city governments to put a stop to the only way to make housing cheaper again: Building more of it."
Problems with NAGPRA: Sandefur and Weiss: "Kennewick Man was far older than any existing tribe and not related to any of them. Nevertheless, tribal officials insisted that the bones be kept away from scientific study and turned over for reburial, which would destroy their usefulness for scientific research. In compliance with those demands, federal officials confiscated the skeleton and buried the Kennewick Man site under 600 tons of rock and fill to prevent any further discoveries."
Abortion Bans Endanger Women: Look, we told you this would happen. ProPublica: "She Faced a Life-Threatening Miscarriage. Under Arkansas' Abortion Ban, Even Calls to the Governor's Office Didn't Help."
Teen Media Ban? A surprisingly large number of parents support a teen social media ban. Okay, why don't they just set appropriate policies for their own families, then? Why do they have to wait for government to act? Anyway, as Tim Requarth relates, psychologist Candice Odgers "challenges Haidt's claim that social media is driving the teen mental health crisis, suggesting instead reverse causation: that struggling kids tend to reach for their phones roughly the same way struggling adults do." It's astonishing to me how many people are eager for the federal government to continue to usurp parental rights and authority. We don't need more government controls of media!
Adulterated Avocado Oil? That's what the evidence seems to suggest (see NPR). Fraud is definitely a place where government needs to act.
Demotivating Science: Biographies of scientists that treat scientific ability as fixed rather than as developed are demotivating for kids. Via Cowen.
Effects of Drug Decrim: Aaron Brown: No, results from Washington and Oregon do not show that decriminalization necessarily leads to more deaths. I would add several quick notes. A policy might attract additional people to an area, so we can't just look at local effects. Decrim policies are totally compatible with strict policies against public use and crimes. And deaths are not the only thing to worry about. We should not, for example, outlaw alcohol even though that probably would reduce the number of deaths on net.
Social(ized) (In)Security: Atlantic: "The Social Security Reckoning Is Finally Coming." The solution is as simple as it is politically unattainable. Means-test recipients. I'd go further: Means-test aggressively, repeal payroll taxes and shift spending to general funds, and let younger workers reduce their tax burden in exchange for reduced future benefits.
McCloskey's Economics Reading List: Dierdre, via Cowen.
Teen Social Media Use: Elizabeth Nolan Brown: "Most teens use social media moderately, though class divides persist."
Classical Liberalism: You can now download the Routledge Companion for free.
Fiscal Substitution: As wealthier countries subsidized health programs for poorer countries, many of those countries reduced their own spending.
Anthropic Security Test: Read how models "accidentally" got internet access and "impacted [other] organizations' infrastructure using basic techniques, such as exploiting weak passwords and unauthenticated endpoints."
White Heritage Communities: Axios. Definitely bad, definitely uncomfortable for libertarian theorists.