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September 17, 2025
Welcome to The Lighthouse, the weekly email newsletter of the Independent Institute covering politics, economics, current events, and everything in between.
Dear Readers,
This week, bestselling author Matthew Crawford begins with an article about how modern society’s suspicion of competition and masculine play stifles aspiration and solidarity, undermining the very rituals that once forged social order. Indeed, we athttps://www.independent.org/news-release/2025/09/15/crawford-joins-independent/Independent Institute are delighted to announce thatCrawford is joining our team! ([link removed])
Crawford is best known for his book Shop Class as Soulcraft, where he recounts his shift from think tank work to running a motorcycle repair shop, finding fulfillment in hands-on work. He majored in physics at U.C. Santa Barbara and earned a doctorate in the history of political thought at the University of Chicago. Recognized as a modern Renaissance Man, Crawford explores topics like government coercion and the impact of AI on culture. He will lead a group of writers for a special supplement on the future of liberty for the fall 2026 issue of The Independent Review, while continuing to produce influential cultural criticism.
Next, Williamson Evers and Kristian Fors offer their reminiscences about Charlie Kirk in the wake of his egregious murder.
In a pair of articles, Sam Jenson addresses the abuse of taxpayer assistance by NFL owners and Trump's executive order targeting flag burning, which reframes protest as "incitement."
Fors highlights some positive developments in California’s insurance market.
Finally, Ivan Eland concludes by discussing how the Trump administration's push to deploy the U.S. military for domestic immigration enforcement signals a dangerous erosion of constitutional limits and a drift toward authoritarianism.
Enjoy.
Jonathan Hofer
Managing Editor
Top picks this week
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** The Origins of Social Order: Fighting and Playing ([link removed])
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** by Matthew B. Crawford
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Why do so many young men seem to be stuck on their couches, in a stupor of screens, unable to launch a life?
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** The Assassination of Charlie Kirk and Free Speech ([link removed])
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** Charlie Kirk’s killing highlights the dangerous escalation from protest and de-platforming to silencing speech through violence. ([link removed])
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** by Williamson Evers
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Charlie’s assassination not only blots out the life of a fine person. It is also a horrible blow to free speech.
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** Charlie Kirk and the Assault on Freedom of Expression ([link removed])
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** by Kristian Fors
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No one should be killed for their beliefs or speech.
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** The NFL’s Public-Financing Playbook ([link removed])
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** Taxpayers shoulder the burden of modern stadiums. ([link removed])
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** by Sam Jenson
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All of these owners across the big four leagues in North America can afford to finance their stadiums privately, but they just choose not to. The burden of stadium financing should not fall on the shoulders of taxpayers.
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** Flag Burning and Freedom of Speech ([link removed])
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** Trump’s executive order and the erosion of civil liberties ([link removed])
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** by Sam Jenson
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Even if the order can be defended under the narrow category of “incitement,” it still undermines the spirit of the First Amendment.
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** A Glimmer of Hope for California’s Insurance Market ([link removed])
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** by Kristian Fors
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The California Insurance Market Reform Act of 2026 seeks to repeal Proposition 103, replacing it with a “modern process that includes deadlines and allows actuarial consideration of reinsurance costs and mitigation credits.”
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** More Dangerous Domestic Use of the U.S. Military Is Coming ([link removed])
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** by Ivan Eland
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It is already bad enough that the Trump administration is using masked federal law-enforcement officers, often without agency markings on their fatigues, for mass arrest, confinement, and deportation.
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** FEATURED BOOK — OUT SOON!
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** A Balance of Titans ([link removed])
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** Peace and Liberty in the New Multipolar World ([link removed])
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** By Ivan Eland
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“Ivan Eland proposes a bold new foreign policy for the United States, one that would encourage other nations to share the burdens of policing the world, saving the United States billions in defense spending and making peace more likely and sustainable.” —Harvey Sapolsky, professor emeritus of public policy and organization, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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