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Minimal rules make us free to try stuff

Politicians have big plans for us. President Joe Biden repeatedly says, “I have a plan for that.” “I alone can fix it,” shouted President Donald Trump. But most of life, and the best of life, happens when politicians butt out and let us make our own choices. Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou called that “spontaneous order.” Thousands of years later, economist F. A. Hayek added that order comes “not from design, but spontaneously.” Did you eat a banana this morning? No central planner calculates how many bananas should be grown, who will pick them, when they’ll ...

July happens to be the cruelest month for candidates

Perhaps T.S. Elliot was wrong. July, not April, is the cruelest month, at least for GOP presidential contenders trying to supplant Donald Trump. Before July, the campaigns have excuses for why the momentum hasn't kicked in yet. They can say they're just in exploratory-committee mode, or they're just getting the campaign stood up. Hey, we haven't had a chance to meet the voters yet at an Iowa Pizza Ranch or chat with the gang at Manchester's Red Arrow Diner. The ides of July is when the excuses evaporate in the summer heat as campaigns have to reveal their second quarter fundraising ...

Inner cities, and character attacks

This weekend, Tucker Carlson interviewed a bevy of Republican presidential candidates in Iowa. Despite the fact that polls show that nearly zero Americans consider the war in Ukraine to be a top voting priority, Carlson spent a disproportionate share of his time grilling the candidates over their position on Ukraine. He took the position that favoring additional aid to Ukraine in its defensive war against Russia amounted to taking money out of the hands of poverty-stricken Americans in inner cities; as he asked Mike Pence, “Every city in the United States has become much worse over the ...

Media display hostility toward third party

Polls show that voters are not thrilled at the prospect of a Trump vs. Biden rerun in the 2024 presidential election. That makes the idea of a fresh third-party candidate more interesting. One might think the media would enjoy a curveball, but there’s one big problem: Democrats think a third-party ticket would sink President Joe Biden. The No Labels group held an event in New Hampshire on July 17 with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and former Gov. Jon Huntsman (R-Utah). They like the idea of a bipartisan presidential ticket, one Democrat and one Republican. There’s more than enough ...

Bloom where you are planted

We are now a few weeks into our much-anticipated summer season, and everyone is busy enjoying every sun-soaked moment. All too soon, there will be a chill in the air, the days will begin to shorten, school and dorm supplies will be purchased, and fall will be upon us. Until then, however, there are family vacations, ball games, yard sales, picnics, outdoor adventures, and now that we have received some much-needed rain, grass to mow and gardens to tend. Flowers are blooming everywhere and since my Chamber office is in downtown Lewistown, I have the daily privilege of enjoying the ...

Is Elon’s problem simply loneliness?

Why does Elon Musk have to be the center of everyone’s attention every day? Has he no hobbies? Is running an industrial empire less than a full-time job? Perhaps he’s just lonely. Perhaps social media is not filling the need for human companionship — as many a depressed adolescent can explain. At times, the richest man on the planet, Musk certainly has options. He’s already done remarkable things, such as supercharge the age of the electric vehicle and send rockets into space. Yet he chooses to pick public fights that offend his customers, while having negligible effect on ...