Articles - Center for Individualism

Articles

Are There Now 50 Million Enemies Of The State? Let’s Hope So.

January 24, 2021

Trump’s legacy will not be shaped by his actions—or even by how his enemies portray him. Ultimately, it comes down to his base and the movement he inspired. "The Jeffersonians were much better than Jefferson. The Taftians were much better than Robert Taft. The Trumpians tend to be much better than Trump."

A Majority Of People Around The World Believe That Journalists, Governments And Businesses Are All Purposely Trying To Mislead.

January 23, 2021

The bleakest picture of societal trust globally in the past two decades: even the most powerful countries — like the U.S., China, Germany and the U.K. — are experiencing a record trust deficit, especially in government. Trust in government in the U.S. has crashed following the 2020 election,

Now That Americans No Longer Believe In Elections, What Alternatives Will We Choose To Escape Each Others’ Control?

January 22, 2021

Now troops patrol the streets of the nation's capital because nobody is willing to lose elections. We can have a future of increasing conflict between Americans who hate each other. Or we can make it easier for people to peacefully escape each other's control.

President Biden’s Divisive Inaugural Speech Hit All The Expected Themes Of Racial Resentment And Blame.

January 22, 2021

The next four years will likely be one long anti-white-privilege struggle session. Any real effort to close racial achievement gaps, such as fighting the “acting white” ethic that prevents many inner-city children from trying hard in school, will be deferred and discredited. Biden is betting that white liberals, at least, will continue hanging their heads in penance for their hereditary crimes and trot off to their latest show trial.

Economics For Business:Treating Consumers As Means Instead Of Ends Is A Fatal Flaw For Silicon Valley Business Models.

January 21, 2021

Ultimately, the kinds of Silicon Valley companies to which these observations apply face a cultural problem. Consumer value and consumer service are not a sufficient part of their DNA. They were founded and developed to nurture technology. They found bolt-on monetization schemes that responded to mass reach. Culturally, the idea of consumer value has never been central to them.

Economics For Individuals: Can We Really Identify Bubbles? Only In Hindsight.

January 20, 2021

In a strange way, we reserve the derogatory term “bubble” only to those who don’t succeed. The difference between Amazon, the online retail giant we all know, and Pets.com, the obscure 1990s startup that only financial nerds now talk about, is that Amazon succeeded. In hindsight, that’s obvious; from the point of view of 1999, it wasn’t.

Entrepreneurship Ascendant: Americans Are Starting More Businesses Than Ever Before.

January 19, 2021

There are entrepreneurs everywhere who are setting to work to solve the most pressing problems of our present and our future. The businesses those innovators introduce to the world will be all the more significant for the hurdles they surpassed.

The Gulf Between The Rulers And We Who Are Ruled Is Now Unbridgeable.

January 18, 2021

Democracy will be pushed to the margins in even traditionally democratic countries by the forces of surveillance capitalism, coupled with increasing citizen feelings of powerlessness against these forces, along with manipulation of information and elections.

Change In Washington DC? Hardly. Both Parties Are The Parties Of Big Government.

January 17, 2021

For evidence, consider President George W. Bush's presidency, when, for a time, Republicans controlled both the House and Senate. During that time, we saw the creation of a new department (Homeland Security) and of a new entitlement (Medicare Part D), and spending exploded. Data confirm that unified government does not keep government restrained, even if the controlling party is supposedly the enemy of big government.

Voting Is No Longer Viable. Focus On What You Can Control In Your Life, Which Is Primarily Yourself.

January 16, 2021

The key to the cultivation of alternative poles of social power begins with order, specifically the ordering of one’s own life. This is not an idea original to me. Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson has recently popularized this idea in a secular manner with his refrain of “clean your room.”

Economics For Individuals: Does Twitter Have “Unimaginable Power”? Of Course Not. Only Its Users Do.

January 15, 2021

So while the suspension of Trump’s Twitter account, Facebook’s ejection of the 45th president, and Amazon’s role in the disappearance of Parler may have conservatives marveling at the power of tech firms bent on insulting them, rest assured that all three of the aforementioned moves demonstrate how unnerved Twitter, Facebook and Amazon must be.

“The Market” Can Deliver Pho and Spring Rolls. It Can Deliver Vaccines.

January 14, 2021

Markets coordinate the division of labor and the division of knowledge. We cooperate to mutual advantage and deploy for our purposes expertise and skills we don’t have for purposes other people may not understand. Exchange collapses the incomprehensibly complex into simple bids and offers whereby people decide whether or not they want and are willing to pay for what is on offer at the requested price.

About The Center For Individualism

The Center for Individualism exists to revive individualism in America. We seek to be a catalyst for cultural change and a hub for all who aspire to live a self-reliant life. We produce content, curate resources, provide services, and facilitate relationships that empower people to achieve their personal and economic ambitions. Our purpose is to support individuals in building a better life for themselves – and in so doing, to build a better society for all.

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Raushan Gross: Socialism Cannot Work, Not Even in an AI-Driven Economy

The Right to Repair: Shouldn’t Americans Have the Right to Fix Their Own Stuff?