BLOGGING & OP EDS
Below, some highlights from my blogging and public commentary…
The Politicization of Banking and the End of Freedom
Epoch Times, 12th July 2023
"Imagine a society in which outspoken conservatives, or Brexiteers, or libertarians, or socialists, were systematically locked out of banking services: those dissenting openly from the political views of the banking establishment would be condemned to live as economic pariahs: no mortgage, no credit cards, and no way to conduct a normal business."
Could AI Hollow Out Our Humanity? Absolutely: Here's How
The Freedom Blog, 30th June 2025
If a machine is helping you decide where to go to college, what job offer to accept, how to write a paper, or which country to live in, surely there may come a point in your life when you succumb to laziness, and just decide to “go with the flow” and let your life be run by an algorithm? Surely it could be very tempting to be relieved of the burden of making tough choices and engaging in the creative process, if a machine can save you the trouble?
Legislation Against Hate Speech is Ill-Advised and Counter-Productive
The Irish Times, 12th December 2019
Using the law to regulate hate speech is a bit like erecting a Special Criminal Court to tackle petty theft: while it might have some positive effects, it is an ill-chosen instrument, likely to do more harm than good. The most appropriate instruments for combating hate speech are not laws, but political persuasion, education and social norms.
Alasdair MacIntyre (1929-2025): A Philosopher Who Thought Against the Grain
The Freedom Blog, 23rd May 2025
Though he was not a household name for most people, he was known to anyone seriously involved in the world of moral, social or political philosophy, as a philosopher who thought against the grain of modernity, and offered a provocative diagnosis of the collapse of rational discourse in modern democracies.
You Should Be Very Worried About the Digital Services Act
Epoch Times, 11th September 2023
Under the recently enacted Digital Services Act, the commission may apply significant pressures upon digital platforms to curb “hate speech,” “disinformation,” and threats to “civic discourse,” all of which constitute notoriously vague and slippery categories.
Alberta's Premiere is Forging an Unabashedly Pragmatic Independence Movement
The Freedom Blog, 7th June 2025
Alberta’s peculiarly pragmatic brand of separatism is more in line with the the 18th century American Revolution, dominated by political opposition to a burdensome British tax rather than any strong sense of a distinct cultural identity, than the more ethno-linguistic forms of separatism that we today see in places like Catalonia, Basque Country, and Scotland.
Why attempting to Purge the Web of 'Misinformation' and 'Disinformation' is a Fool's Errand
Mercatornet, 27th February 2024
Censorship and expert control can seem like an efficient way to bring order, coherence, and predictability into a maelstrom of conflicting sources of evidence and information. But this solution, however emotionally consoling, is ultimately bound to fail.
Is the Pandemic Turning the West into China?
Clingendael Spectator, 29th September 2021
he Covid-19 pandemic is a 'stress test' for Western democracies. According to political philosopher David Thunder, the West is failing this test as the dividing line between Chinese collectivism and European individualism has begun to blur.
Battle for soul of Europe is only beginning
The Irish Times, 28th May 2019
The gradual consolidation of nationalist and Eurosceptical parties, even if it does not reach a commanding position, is indicative of a brewing storm over the soul of Europe, over what the European Union really stands for. The current fracturing of European politics is symptomatic of a tension that has been latent in the European Union since its inception, between two very different visions of European integration
Irish media has become a lazy echo chamber
The Irish Times, 22nd August 2018
In a climate of ideological convergence, many journalists can afford to make lazy, ill-thought-out arguments, since they know they are unlikely to be challenged by their colleagues as long as they do not stray too far from the ideological fold. In short, they can expect most days to be given a free pass, so long as they remain “on side."
Lockdowns: One of the Most Disastrous Policy Errors of Modern Times
Mercatornet, 24th February 2021
The appropriate benchmark for assessing the merits of lockdown policies is not just their capacity to reduce Covid infections or deaths, but their capacity to advance the overall health and well-being of affected populations. For example, even if we eliminated Covid from the face of the earth, that would hardly be desirable if it drove a large section of the population into poverty and increased overall excess mortality.