CATEGORY: ECONOMICS (4 min)
What could a shopping cart and a club membership do to end socialism?
In the hands of Costco’s employees and cult following, a lot, actually.
Want to Help Out the “Little Guy”?
In this week’s Intercollegiate Review essay, Akil Alleyne argues that Costco stands between radical laissez-faire and top-down distribution.
Socialism is popular, capitalism isn’t. And if you really care about the little guy, that’s a problem.
Costco: The Hero We Need
Read Alleyne’s essay to learn:
- The six things that made Costco so successful (and earned it a loyal following)
- Why capitalism is getting the evil eye—and how Costco could help
- What Rush Limbaugh got wrong about the Dan Prices of the world
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CATEGORY: LITERATURE (7 min)
You probably remember Franz Kafka for his story about the young man who woke up as an insect.
And you probably had some idea that he is considered a “quintessential modernist.”
This Modernist Had an Old Soul
But in the American Conservative, E. J. Hutchinson introduces us to the less obvious techniques of Kafka: the deeply traditional “quest” motif in his three novels.
As the poet W. H. Auden saw it, Kafka was modern in his sensibilities, but his style is inseparable from the European tradition.
And that makes Kafka’s novels as vital today for students of Western literature as they were a century ago.
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CATEGORY: POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY (5 min)
The controversial convention on “national conservatism” ended last month, but the idea continues to raise questions:
Is national conservatism a thing? Can it be a thing? Should it be?
Over at the Mises Wire, Allen Mendenhall responds, “No, no, and no.”
“National Conservatism” Will Never Catch On
Mendenhall argues that the U.S. isn’t a nation at all. It’s a country made up of different cultures, from the Amish to the Athabaskans.
That alone challenges nationalism of any kind.
He’s got more thoughts on this, however, and they’re worth reading in full.
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CATEGORY: HISTORY (26 min)
For most of his young life, Abraham Lincoln moved through pro-slavery territory.
The people he knew favored slaves. He was an aspiring politician, and being anti-slavery wouldn’t help him win elections . . .
So why did he hate slavery so much?
In this archived lecture, historian Michael Burlingame reveals:
- Where Lincoln’s sensitive conscience came from
- Why he identified with slaves
- Why he never discussed cruelty to slaves when other abolitionists did
Humorous and moving, this excellent lecture provides rich insight into a great man oft quoted but rarely understood.
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