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Podcast: Local Patriotism: The "David" of local community vs the "Goliath" of national dysfunction

Podcast: Local Patriotism: The "David" of local community vs the "Goliath" of national dysfunction

The forces that divide us are big, strong, viral, international in scope and have seemingly infected every system of our body politic. It’s the degree of that rot that has led us back this year to where it all began — to people we’ve come to know over these years — to this place, these people. Through this tumultuous time, we have come to believe that if we’re going to care about the American idea — if we’re going to truly live it out (and maybe save it) — it will be in hometowns like this one between neighbors like us. And it will ultimately be about who we are to each other, which Washington D.C. doesn’t get to decide for us.

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United States' Constitution and Declaration of Independence on a flag background

The Constitution didn't create American prosperity — geography, immigration, and historical luck did. Here's why that matters for reform debates.

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The Constitution Did Not Make America Rich

Americans are taught a reassuring story about their country’s success. The United States became prosperous, powerful, and free because the framers wrote an exceptional Constitution. The miracle of Philadelphia produced the miracle of America.

The story appears in classrooms, campaign speeches, judicial opinions, and serious scholarly works. Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson have argued that institutions securing property and constraining expropriation help separate rich nations from poor ones. But the popular American version takes that insight and turns it into something much stronger – and misguided: that our prosperity flowed from our particular constitutional design, and that altering it would put the wealth at risk.

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Silhouetted People with American Flag Neon Sign

An examination of how gun rights, taxes, business regulation & public health all reflect the same core principle: rights come with responsibilities to society.

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With Rights Come Responsibilities - That's the American Way

People on the Right/MAGA are always talking about their rights and how the government is taking away their rights. Whether it’s the issue of gun ownership, running a business, or restrictions on movement during the pandemic, people on the Right don’t seem to understand what it means to be a citizen. Yes, we have rights. But with rights come responsibilities. Not even the right of free speech, let alone the right to gun ownership, is absolute.

Man is by nature concerned mainly with his and his family’s interests. That is his biological imperative. Socially, however, man has evolved into being a member—a citizen—of a larger society. And so, from the most primitive communities to contemporary societies, that driving instinct has been reigned in for the greater good of the community.

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An Independent Just Broke Through in Alaska — As Republicans Try to Kill the System That Made It Possible

Bill Hill

Bill Hill Facebook

An Independent Just Broke Through in Alaska — As Republicans Try to Kill the System That Made It Possible

Independent Bill Hill is heading to the November ballot after finishing second in Alaska's Aug. 18 top-four open primary, setting up a race against Republican incumbent Rep. Nick Begich III for the state's at-large US House seat. With 396 out of 403 precincts reporting, Begich led with roughly 46.12% of the vote to Hill's 30.89%.

In Alaska's system, all candidates run in a single primary. The four candidates with the highest vote totals are then placed on the November general election ballot. Voters use ranked choice voting to rank those four candidates based on their preferences.

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