Category: Indiana Writers Group

by Mark Franke “I have seen the future, and it works!” wrote the journalist Lincoln Steffens after visiting the Soviet Union in 1919. Except that it didn’t. Why bring this up now, nearly 30 years after the fall of the USSR and its communist- totalitarian system of repression and deprivation? Because a new generation of…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. Andrew Yang is one of many Democratic candidates for U.S. President in 2020. Unlike most of his competitors, Yang is intelligent and sounds like a policy wonk. He’s eloquent and brims with joy. He’s thoughtful about policy and worried about both people and society. But Yang is a mess on many…

by Leo Morris Let’s cut to the chase on our current relapse into anti-Electoral College fever. No matter what high-minded reasons partisans espouse, many also all have selfish motivations for their positions. A great number of Electoral College opponents are liberals and/or Democrats who believe an end to the current system will ensure the election…

“Liberalism is piecemeal socialism, and socialism always attacks three institutions: religion, family and property. Religion, because it offers a rival authority to the State; family, because it means a rival loyalty to the State; property, because it means independence to the State.” — Joe Sobran PETER BUTTIGIEG’S PROMOTION of socialist policies in his presidential campaign…

by Joe Squadrito Recently the national media has focused on sheriffs in some western states who either openly oppose or defy gun-control legislation enacted by their respective legislatures. The broadcast media, in some cases portrayed these sheriffs as openly defiant individuals in violation of their state laws and essentially in violation of their oath of…

by David Penticuff It is frustrating to see elected officials line up in unity to hand over more than $3 million in tax money to assist a company that in my city, by all appearances, does not truly need the money. But it’s not really about Central Indiana Ethanol (CIE). When asked why we are…

“For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7 ASV) by Mark Franke The prophet Hosea was warning the people of his nation, Old Testament Israel, that their actions had consequences, consequences that would be much worse than they could possibly expect. Think wind. Then think whirlwind. As our public discourse…

by Eric Schansberg, Ph.D. The university admissions scandal “Operation Varsity Blues” is interesting on many levels: rich people working the system; corruption and bribery in institutions of higher learning; elite, liberal universities sullied by scandal and greed. But as an economist, the episode brings other comparisons to mind. First, consider how the scandal resembles both…

by Leo Morris My sense of privacy has eroded a bit every year since I got my first cellphone. I’ve become so used to the loss that it usually doesn’t even bother me. My real fear is that there will be a tipping point at which so much of my privacy is gone, I won’t…

by Norman Van Cott, Ph.D. What if I told you that immigrants who offer their services in say, raspberry production, at wages lower than the prevailing wage for American raspberry workers raise overall U.S. living standards? Many, if not most of you, would probably respond with something along the lines of “Van Cott, that’s ridiculous.”…