New here? You're reading Dispatches from the Rebellion — independent reporting on the global fight for freedom. Subscribe Free The Global Fight for Freedom "Substack and X (if you know where to look) are better sources for living-brain analysis of current events than much of the traditional press, where opinionating is performative and commercially formulaic. The reflexive need to strike pro- and anti-Trump notes often blots out everything that might be interesting to a curious and thinking...
8 days ago • 9 min read
The Global Fight for Freedom A banner unfurled at the World Cup ignites a firestorm, three words of compassion unleash the knives, and tyranny fills the void of an air base we abandoned. This week, three governments meet the consequences of their own retreats. Editor’s Note: This week’s episode marks a return to form. One long essay, then two short ones. The first is a slow read; the rest go quick and easy. Headlines The Empire Apologizing Itself Away The Nazis Banned Political Parties Too...
15 days ago • 8 min read
The Global Fight for Freedom A bill moving through one Western-style democracy's parliament would hand the government the final say over whose beliefs are legitimate. This week’s stories focus on religious freedom, demonstrating how a government doesn't need tanks to seize control of what its citizens believe. It just needs phrases worded vaguely enough to mean whatever it wants. You don't have to be religious to feel it. As you read, try swapping "conscience" for "religion," and ask whether...
27 days ago • 7 min read
New here? You're reading Dispatches from the Rebellion — independent reporting on the global fight for freedom. Subscribe Free The Global Fight for Freedom These pages hold one primary conviction: the overconcentration of power yields human suffering. History offers scant counterevidence. Regional autonomy disperses power. Our founders knew this better than anyone, their aspirations having been thwarted by monarchy an ocean away. Still, a union of the states was required to meet external...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
New here? You're reading Dispatches from the Rebellion — independent reporting on the global fight for freedom. Subscribe Free Hello Reader, Want to share this? Here's a link. Editor's Note: this piece breaks format — a single feature-length essay instead of the usual mix of shorter dispatches. Consider it an experiment: more analysis, fewer scenes, a different rhythm than the story-driven voice this newsletter was built on. Next week, we’ll return to the usual format. In the meantime, I'd...
about 1 month ago • 6 min read
New here? You're reading Dispatches from the Rebellion — independent reporting on the global fight for freedom. Subscribe Free The Global Fight for Freedom These pages hold three convictions: that independent institutions with strong checks on power yield the best human outcomes; that unchecked, centralized power always decays into tyranny; and that governments built to extract a country's wealth for a narrow elite deliver far worse lives than inclusive ones built to share power and...
about 2 months ago • 7 min read
New here? You're reading Dispatches from the Rebellion — independent reporting on the global fight for freedom. Subscribe Free Hello Reader, Want to share this? Here's a link. The Global Fight for Freedom Starting now, Dispatches from the Rebellion’s feature story will dig into a deeper analysis on a single theme: what happens to real people when government stops securing their liberty — whether through the “cockroaches inside the head of one aging man”, structural deficiencies, or through...
about 2 months ago • 8 min read
New here? You're reading Dispatches from the Rebellion — independent reporting on the global fight for freedom. Subscribe Free The Global Fight for Freedom Most weeks, these pages warn about power grown too strong. This week: a "ranch of horrors" exposes the threat of a government too weak — and a culture forged from above, not grown from below.Note: This week’s episode runs long — think of it as advance payment. I'm taking next week off to focus on newsletter growth. Episode 120 lands August...
2 months ago • 7 min read
New here? You're reading Dispatches from the Rebellion — independent reporting on the global fight for freedom. Subscribe Free The Global Fight for Freedom In 1820, 84% of humanity lived in abject poverty — half of all children didn't survive to five. Cycles of famine ravaged civilizations across the globe. Few lived past 30. Then, in a handful of countries, an idea took root. Or rather, it detonated.Within two centuries, the number plunged to under 9%. It happened wherever governments...
3 months ago • 6 min read