Government Banks Would Be a Dangerous Tool for Progressive Ideologues
2024-01-23
Last month, Democratic Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposed a bill that would allow the incorporation of financial institutions controlled by states and municipalities. These banks would be not-for-profit, tightly regulated, and given special government subsidies. The Congresswomen claim that public banks are necessary because the private sector has been “rigged” against “those grappling with the costs of simply trying to participate” in the economy. “The Public Banking Act ends the era of privileging unaccountable private banks over the public interest,” said Michael Brennan, a progressive lobbyist.
Calling private banks “unaccountable” is more than a bit disingenuous. Financial institutions are among
the most heavily regulated businesses in the country. Not
“Humanitarianism” as an Excuse for Colonialism and Imperialism
2024-01-21
Spreading civilization and human rights has long been used as an excuse for state-building through colonialism and imperialism. This idea dates back at least to early Spanish and colonial efforts in the New World, and the rationale was initially employed as just one of many. The importance of the conquest-spreads-civilization claim increased, however, as liberalism gained ground in Europe in the nineteenth century. Liberals were more skeptical of the benefits of imperialism, so, as political scientist Lea Ypi notes: "During the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the purpose of colonial rule was declared to be the ‘civilizing mission’ of the West to educate barbarian peoples ." The residents of these colonies were deemed to be "unsuited to setting up or administering a