Reflections From the Road
These essays are also available in video form on my YouTube channel.
Equal Protection and the Problem of Delayed Justice
The Fourteenth Amendment arose not from theory, but from failure. It came from the recognition that a nation could abolish slavery yet still maintain a power structure so unbalanced that freedom existed primarily as mere rhetoric.
True Autonomy and the Path Forward
Autonomy is not an abstract idea. It appears in the choices people make, the responsibilities they take on, and the confidence they carry in shaping their own lives. It grows through practice. It fades when people stop using it. And in recent years, it has slipped away from the places where it once lived.
Local Power Over Nationalist Dependency
National pride can offer a sense of belonging, a reminder that people share a common story. It becomes something different when it encourages dependence on a distant figure or a centralized identity. It pulls attention away from the places where people actually live their lives. When that happens, the structure of freedom begins to lean in the wrong direction.
The Myth of the Single Savior
There is a difference between believing in a leader and handing them our agency.
The two can look similar from a distance. Support can turn into dependence. Admiration can turn into surrender. And somewhere along the way, the idea of a single person carrying the weight of a nation begins to feel natural, even necessary. It becomes part of the story we tell ourselves about how things get fixed.
Captivity Should Not be For Sale
Most people I know who lean conservative share a common belief about the world. They trust private organizations more than government because they have seen how slowly government moves and how easily public systems lose sight of the individual. I understand that instinct. I grew up around it. I still think there is wisdom in the idea that power should be held in check, no matter where it lives.
When Power Turns to Discretion: Lessons from the Boat Strikes
In early September, the United States government began using military force against small boats in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific. The descriptions of the people on those boats shifted from day to day. Sometimes they were called traffickers. Sometimes cartel members. Sometimes enemy combatants. What never changed was the fact that many were killed without arrest, without evidence presented to the public, and without any form of due process.
Intertwined
Whether you like it or not, you are part of a society. You walk on roads you did not build, protected by laws you did not write, and safeguarded by people you may never meet. The air you breathe is cleaner because others agreed to rules you did not set. The food you eat reaches you through systems of inspection, transport, and labor that would collapse without collective effort. The myth of absolute self-reliance is a comforting story told by those who have forgotten how deeply dependent we all are.
The Fragility of Privilege
Rights are not a gift from government. They are a claim built into what it means to be human. You can suspend them by force, fail to honor them in law, or ignore them in practice. But you cannot erase their source without denying the person who bears them. That is the heart of the matter, and one of the oldest arguments in political thought.