15 years ago
Mai 2007
“What do these four ‘public health’ problems—smoking, playing violent video games, overeating, and gambling—have in common? All of these things are something that certain people like and others dislike, causing them to have various negative consequences. These effects may be medical in nature, but can also have psychological, behavioral and social consequences. These consequences are sometimes called ‘public health’ issues, or ‘epidemics’. This equates choice with disease, hides science as moralizing, and makes meddling in medicine seem like science. This elevates the collective calculus of social wellbeing above individual interests, making individuals subject to more intrusive interventions to make them as healthy and happy as possible, regardless of their preferences.
Jacob Sullum
“An Epidemic Of Meddling”
20 years ago
Mai 2002
“Human beings don’t just use resources; they create new resources using their fertile mind. The human mind creates new strategies to maximize resources and not just uses up existing resources as a herd. While resources such as coal, water, timber, and tin may be finite, the possibilities for expanding and optimizing their usage are endless.
Ronald Bailey
Green with Ideology
The abuses in psychiatry stem from the fact that doctor-patient relationships are often not one of service provider and customer, but a dictatorial one with the doctor forcing treatment on the patient. While no one has a set number, it can be gathered from various sources that well over half a million Americans are currently under the control (and care) of psychiatrists by law. It is important to note that there are many other factors as well. [Robert]Whitaker’s observation isn’t unique (see Michel Foucault’s writings). Reason Contributing Editor Thomas Szasz), the history of psychiatry fits more comfortably in the history of penology than of medicine.”
Brian Doherty
“Ill-Treated”
25 years ago
Mai 1997
“In a momentary of ideological frankness Assistant Secretary of Education David Longanecker cited this allegedly nonpolitical strategy’s goal as bribing Generation X, its successors, to support big government. Following the State of the Union Address Longanecker stated, “We want to make an extremely strong statement” that it was worth the country’s investment in middle-class students. They will be able to get back into civic life. We also believe they’ll believe the government can do something for them.
Virginia Postrel
“No Class”
It was 30 years ago
May 1992
Better teachers are the only way for schools to be better. We won’t improve schooling no matter how many reports from panels, commissions and committees recommend changes to the structure of schools or in math teaching methods. Today, we are left with teacher-producing factories which take material from the bottom and produce models that work but don’t perform well enough. We need to compromise quality for quantity, both in the educational institutions and those who train teachers. Institutions should be academic. Graduates should not be evaluated on how well they know but how caring they are.
Rita Kramer
“School Daze”
It was 40 years ago
May 1982
The subways in private operations would be subject to strong competition from other surface transportation and perhaps, in certain parts of the city from rival subway operators. Private owners would thus—and rightly—face great pressure to respond to travelers’ wishes, to adapt, and to restrain costs. Because of their financial vulnerability, private owners would be able to deal with unions and employees much more effectively than the MTA. Their service would be far more customer-focused and affordable, but not necessarily cheaper.
Peter Samuel
“Unload the Subways.”
45 years ago
May 1977
“Gun control is irrelevant to the real determinant of violence—which is not the availability of firearms but the inclination toward use of weapons in interpersonal relations. You can contrast the shockingly high Mexican homicide rates, which are dominated by very simple weapons, with the incredible low Swiss homicide rates, in which every soldier owns an automatic rifle.
Don Kates
“Gun Control Doesn’t Work”
Reason.com’s first post, Archives: May 2022 was published on Reason.com.