Ducks and Economics
A blog by Eapen Thampy
Monthly Archives: January 2012
An alternate defense of the Citizens United decision
Assume, for the purposes of the argument, that corporations aren’t people. I don’t think this implies that the Citizens United decision is necessarily wrong. I think it is obvious that even if you accept fully that corporations aren’t people, people are people, and retain their First Amendment rights of speech and association. The obvious conclusion is that people retain the right to use a legal fiction to represent themselves as a matter of free speech and association.
Put another way, free speech and association is the foundation of any kind of corporate entity. If people were restricted from speaking and meeting with each other, and from expressing their point of view, certainly there would be no corporations and no corporate speech. But would this be desirable?
“thymotic”
I learned a new word today, “thymotic”. The free Merriam-Webster dictionary at http://www.M-W.com did not list the word, but Wikipedia says:
Thumos (also commonly spelled “thymos”) (Greek: θυμός) is an Ancient Greek word expressing the concept of “spiritedness” (as in “spirited stallion” or “spirited debate”). The word indicates a physical association with breath or blood. The word is also used to express the human desire for recognition.
Everyone needs to hear what Neill Franklin is saying to honor Martin Luther King today
This email from the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition showed up in my inbox today:
Dear Eapen,
On a day when we honor a man whom historians may well come to describe as one of America’s Founding Fathers, I am reminded of how inspired I have been by the words and deeds of Dr. Martin Luther King.
When I think of countless LEAP supporters from all walks of life devoting themselves to defending the vulnerable, hidden and scorned victims of our drug policies, I feel his words, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” taking material form. Real policy reform protects the weakest among us.
When I reflect on the inequitable enforcement of our drug policies, I am reminded of his statement that, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Selective, discriminatory enforcement is a cornerstone of a policy that has always been more a war on certain people than a genuine war on addiction.
When I think of LEAP’s founding fathers, the five cops who had had enough of this unjust war and created an international organization of law enforcement professionals who confront the status quo, I am bolstered by his statement that, “We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.”
But mostly, especially when tempted to walk away and take the easier path, my commitment is reborn in his words, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
And so, on the day of his birth, I speak for LEAP when I express our gratitude for his work and a re-commitment to his ideals.
Sincerely,
Major Neill Franklin—Retired
Executive Director
Addendum: Here is a picture of Neill Franklin, Diane Fornbacher, and I outside the White House at a 40th anniversary vigil for the Drug War last June.
Assorted links
I have well over 100 tabs open, partly because I find so many blog-worthy things to read, but end up not having time to blog many of them. So I’m clearing my tabs today, and posting all the worthwhile links that I’ve been reading lately.
Legislative history of the Controlled Substances Act
If you’re in Kansas, here’s information about Kansas’s open records law
Sara Serot and Dennis Owsley in the STL Beacon say the War on Drugs is a policy failure
Amazon: “From Niggas to Gods” by Akil
I met CA Congressional candidate Steve Collet in LA in May. Here he writes to promote the Presidential Candidacy of Gary Johnson, noting Johnson’s stance on amnesty for non-violent marijuana users
Tim Sandefur blasts on the EPA’s compliance order regime at Cato
Working paper: The Economics of the Arab Spring (recommended)
“Everything I learned about startups, I learned from a crime boss”
Recreational Marijuana Use Tops Statewide Ballot Initiatives On Missouri’s Ballot
Psychedelics May Be The Next Drug Reform Frontier
The Pitch’s Guide to Missouri’s Amendment 3 and its vision for recreational marijuana
Biden to Pardon All Federal Offenses Offenses for Simple Marijuana Possession
Forced to become a medical refugee, Abby Rowe can finally come home
Lawmakers Ask MO Governor to Add Pot Legalization to Special Session
Republican Liberty Caucus of Missouri Hosts Eapen Thampy
This is great
My friend Jack picked this article as the best New York Times article of 2011. It’s on the last decade of student testing in New York City, and here’s the last paragraph:
“Nearly a quarter of the state’s principals — 1,046 — have signed an online letter protesting the plan to evaluate teachers and principals by test scores. Among the reasons cited is New York’s long tradition of creating tests that have little to do with reality.”
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