IdeaLog
Promote “fair markets,” not “free markets”
Posted on March 9, 2015
Last week’s column bemoaned the fact that average Americans believe unquestioningly in “free markets,” even though there are no such things. Indeed, every market relies on a dense web of laws and regulations. Subsidies,...
There’s no such thing as “free” markets
Posted on March 1, 2015
Last week, when the Federal Communications Commission voted for net neutrality and changed the way the Internet is policed, conservatives fell back on their favorite myth. The right wing media raged that it’s “a...
The Right Wing Surge in the States
Posted on February 22, 2015
In state legislatures, 2015 is the right wing’s best chance to enact their most extreme legislation. The right now controls more state legislatures than at any time since the 1920s. This opportunity is fleeting....
The Science of Persuasion – Part Two
Posted on February 8, 2015
Last week’s column explained the science behind political stubbornness. Essentially, our brains are hard-wired to engage in “confirmation bias.” Further, our opponents get a blast of dopamine and feel pleasure after they rebut our...
The Science of Persuasion – Part One
Posted on January 31, 2015
Why won’t people listen? They’re so irrational! You make a sensible, even irrefutable political argument and they’re still not persuaded. Cognitive science tells us that persuasion is hard. When deciding whether to agree with...
Five Progressive Wedge Issues for 2015
Posted on January 19, 2015
For years, conservatives used “wedge issues” to split moderates from progressives—measures like criminalizing flag burning, cutting “welfare,” and (until recently) banning same-sex marriage. They still do that, of course, but the Tea Party has...
The State of the States and Localities
Posted on
Due to the ghastly 2014 elections, more state legislators are Republican and the GOP controls more state legislative bodies than at any time since the 1920s. Republicans now control the governorship and both houses...
Top Ten Legislative Victories of 2014
Posted on January 5, 2015
To be a progressive is to seek new laws that advance economic and social justice for all. That endeavor was thoroughly frustrated by the last Congress, and the next one will be worse. On...
When progressives cry “freedom,” what does it mean?
Posted on December 9, 2014
Where government has no proper role, because public action would violate individual rights, progressive policy should be based on freedom. By freedom, I mean the absence of legal interference with our fundamental rights—freedom of...
How to argue over the Thanksgiving table
Posted on November 24, 2014
In the wake of the disastrous 2014 election, you might be dreading Thanksgiving a bit. Every year your loud-mouthed right-wing Uncle Mort insists on debating politics over the dinner table. This year, you expect,...