It was truly disheartening to see the beautiful city I had known all my life in such a state. Walking through an empty downtown, with the few people out and about hiding behind masks, and seeing the boarded-up businesses and carnage of the anarchy permanently colored my perception of Chicago.
Tag: politics
The Debasement of Political Satire
Monty Python was a popular—and brilliant—mid-1900s British sketch comedy troupe. Recently, I’ve been watching clips of their eponymous TV series, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, which satirizes British culture. Their political sketches, such as Party Political Broadcast and The Ministry of Silly Walks, critique politicians and excessive bureaucracy, respectively, and are pretty funny. More importantly, they […]
A Defense of Pluralist Politics
In the age of political polarization, echo chambers and media meticulously tailored to specific ideologies, the Centrist – defined as one “having moderate political views or policies” – is a target of scorn. This attitude arises at both the level of sophisticated American political thought as well as the trenches of prevailing public belief. In […]
Going Home and Recapturing Localism
There is something special you feel when you return home to that place where you grew up. Like many of you, I recently got back from making this return home and experiencing that familiar sensation. It cannot simply be explained by the fact that you are with family, relatives, old friends — as joyous as […]
The Michigan Review Hosts Immigration Policy Debate
On the evening of October 13th, the Michigan Review hosted a debate between Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and Bryan Caplan, economist and adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. The event, which was held at the Pendleton Room in the Michigan Union, focused on the topic: “Does President Trump’s immigration […]
A Cult of Identity
Identity is everything. It, and the actions it initiates, forms the fundamental underpinnings of American society — our values, our beliefs, and more importantly, our associations. These identities, which craft the basis of our being, are nothing more than prey for the politicians who vehemently abuse them for their own gain. Exploit one’s identity, and […]
Humanitarianism and the Refugee Crisis
In the midst of the politicization of the new refugee policies, there have been two key parts of the discussion that have been lost or ignored altogether: the first is the difference between a refugee and an immigrant, and the second – the more important of the two – is the treatment of the refugee […]
Final Thoughts on the Election
In these final few days, I urge everyone, especially conservatives, to vote mindfully, to give careful thought to each candidate, and choose someone who is morally palatable. After a year filled with infantile insults, petty disputes, and mean-spirited political banter—all of which have severely degraded the American political process—the countdown to Election Day is nearly […]
Free Speech: Not Just for the “Right”
Free speech is not merely a political tool of the “right” or the “left” but rather an integral civil liberty necessary for an informed, democratic society that seeks social progress. Casting free speech and the First Amendment as opposed to social justice limits the ability of activists to push for change and separates two causes […]
Freedom to Bear Arms and Use the Bathroom?
When placed side by side gun control and transgender bathroom rights challenge traditional left-right conceptions of freedom. The debates surrounding both gun rights and transgender restroom rights center on the level of control Americans are willing to cede to the U.S. government. Clearly, these issues are not comparable in terms of their implications: enacting stricter […]