The Deformist Tendency
A new book presents a cogent diagnosis of the ills plaguing American society, but also reactionary prescriptions for ameliorating them.
Brian Stewart
· 8 min read
US Politics
A collection of 72 posts
Trump and the Necessity of Democratic Struggle
Liberal pluralism remains the best way to secure as much freedom as possible for a nation with 340 million diverse inhabitants, and this point should become clearer as clashing illiberal forces compete to impose their own versions of law and morality on everyone else.
Matt Johnson
· 15 min read
A Tariff Time-Bomb
A critical part of the One Big Beautiful Bill’s budget equation may evaporate with a judicial pen stroke in the very near future.
Phillip W. Magness
· 9 min read
Buckley’s Blind Spots
Sam Tanenhaus’s new biography of William F. Buckley provides a rich and nuanced portrait of one of the most consequential public intellectuals in modern American conservative politics.
Ronald Radosh
· 25 min read
The Twelve Day War: Truths and Consequences
Operations Rising Lion and Midnight Hammer have been successful military operations, but a great deal of uncertainty remains.
Adam Garfinkle
· 22 min read
Natalism and the Welfare Mother
In the United States, demographic decline will test conservative support for welfare reform.
Stephen Eide
· 6 min read
Gentrifying the Intifada
Zohran Mamdani’s brand of socialism appeals to the luxury beliefs of New York’s middle classes. If his preferred policies are implemented, New Yorkers will suffer—and the poorest of them will be most impacted.
John Aziz
· 8 min read
A Bridge Too Far
Biden’s re-election campaign was a grand exercise in hubris, which led to the very outcome it was intended to prevent.
Joshua Muravchik
· 15 min read
Student Scapegoats
The Trump administration’s decision to start revoking the visas of international students is vindictive, petty, and counterproductive.
Carl Skutsch
· 8 min read
Playing with Economic Fire
The Trump administration has a NatCon economics problem.
Phillip W. Magness
· 10 min read
Faith, Fanaticism, and False Prophets
American populism and religion are bound by a shared desire for order in a rapidly changing world.
Timothy Devinney, Christopher A. Hartwell
· 11 min read
Good Intentions, Bad Outcomes
Those who ignore politically inconvenient information about affirmative action are more interested in defending a narrative than in actually solving a problem.
Erec Smith
· 9 min read
One Hundred Days of Ineptitude
Even those of us who sounded alarms before the November election underestimated just how unhinged the second Trump presidency would turn out to be.
Cathy Young
· 13 min read
Christopher Rufo’s Pyrrhic Victory
Instead of building the broadest possible coalition for his cause, Rufo is busy making enemies of potential allies.
Matt Johnson
· 20 min read
The Changing Politics of Oligarchy
Liberal democracies need to restore a climate of entrepreneurial opportunity and competition.
Joel Kotkin
· 10 min read