The Advocates for Self-Government

In two recent essays for The Advocates, I argued that self-command is the price of maintaining a free society: the alternative to governing yourself is being governed. I also argued that

American progressives continue to advocate for a Medicare for All system, pointing to the Old Continent as a utopian model of universal access to health care. However, in Europe, systems in which the state functions as both direct provider and single-payer monopolist continue to fail.

Contrary to the narrative pushed by certain political circles, Europeans are increasin...

Cracker Barrel announced last week that Julie Masino would be succeeded in her CEO and Director roles, effective August 10, by former Bloomin’ Brands CEO David Deno. Her failed tenure shows what happens when executives discard the most basic principles of business leadership.

Although a company filing claims Masino was terminated without cause, this was an expected resu...

Picture a wet oil painting drying across the back seat of a car while parked somewhere along Florida’s Atlantic coast. The canvas glows with an electric orange sky as palm trees bend with a wind born from the artist’s imagination. And his fingers, well, they still carry the colorful evidence of the previous days’ work.

This is just one depiction of the life of a Florida...

Government is not society. The State is not a community. Political participation is not the same thing as self-government. Albert Jay Nock’s Our Enemy, the State asks us to stop treating those ideas as interchangeable.

If you believe legitimate authority begins with the individual, Nock will feel less like an introduction and more like a provocation. He does no...