Reflections From the Road
These essays are also available in video form on my YouTube channel.
The United States Already Has a Mixed Economy. We Just Pretend It Doesn’t
The United States functions through a blend of markets and public systems, yet political debate still treats capitalism and socialism as mutually exclusive choices. Private firms set wages and prices, but government guarantees deposits, subsidizes mortgages, regulates pollution, and steps in when financial collapse looms. The country already operates through a mixed framework, even as its arguments assume one must be rejected in favor of the other.
Freedom From Fear, Not Freedom From Others
Fear narrows our world long before anyone else does. It shapes what we notice, how we interpret unfamiliar faces, and the conclusions we reach about the people around us. It can make a familiar street feel uncertain. It can turn a passing stranger into a question. And once fear takes hold, it becomes easy to believe that the threat is everywhere, even when nothing in our own experience supports that belief.
The Roots of Our Distrust
I saw a comment online that said, “I just wish the government would stop stealing from me. I can manage my own retirement.” I do not read that as anger for its own sake. I read it as frustration from someone who feels they are paying into a system that does not seem to serve them. It is hard to blame anyone for that. If you spend your entire working life watching money leave your paycheck without seeing much come back, the word “stealing” can feel emotionally accurate even if it is not technically accurate.