The Inner Monologue

When we look back at American history, the worst abuses of state power seem obvious. Slavery, Jim Crow segregation, Native American displacement, internment camps, forced sterilization, and the systematic disenfranchisement of Black voters stand as towering examples of injustice. These were not just local policy mistakes—they were state-level choices that shaped the lives of millions,…

Imagine smashing a rock with a hammer. It splits.Air rushes in.You can see the crack. Now imagine the same thing happening a mile underground. Your brain probably pictures the same crack—just deeper. That’s where it gets weird. Deep underground, there is no empty space Far below the ground, rocks aren’t sitting in air. They’re squeezed…

A bit less than twice four score and seven years ago, Abraham Lincoln stood on a battlefield still damp with blood and offered a definition of America so spare and so radical that it has haunted the nation ever since. He did not speak of flags or faith, race or lineage, wealth or power. He…

There is a quiet exodus underway in the federal government, and it isn’t loud enough to make headlines because it looks polite. It files paperwork. It gives notice. It thanks everyone for the opportunity. And then it disappears with decades of accumulated knowledge packed into a banker’s box and a pension folder. The smart people…

In a democracy, the jury box is the last place where ordinary citizens directly embody the law. It’s where the authority of the state meets the conscience of the community. Yet even here, our methods for deciding who gets to serve are far from perfect. Critics note that voter registration lists—the traditional foundation of jury…

Aleister Crowley’s maxim—“Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law”—has always carried an air of danger. To some it is a satanic whisper, to others a rallying cry for reckless indulgence. Popular imagination turned Crowley into a bogeyman of libertinism, a prophet of chaos. But if we strip away caricature and hysteria,…

America runs on a lie we all pretend not to see. A small group of blue states build the country, fund the country, and stabilize the country—and then get screamed at by a bloc of red states that survive almost entirely by suckling at the federal teat. Let’s name names. The States That Actually Pay…

Every few months, the national conversation on housing bubbles up again with claims that rents are out of control, exploitative, or fundamentally unjust. It is easy to sympathize—rents in many major metropolitan areas have risen faster than wages, leaving tenants feeling squeezed. Yet when we step back from the rhetoric and look closely at the…

Donald Trump was right about one thing—and red states should recognize the tune immediately. If you don’t pay your share, you don’t get to run your mouth. Trump said NATO countries that didn’t meet their obligations were freeloaders riding on American backs. He said they were taking advantage of the biggest payer. He said the…