Michael Austin

Professor-turned-administrator and political commentator. Author of six books including "That's Not What They Meant! Reclaiming the Founding Fathers from the American Right" (Prometheus Books).

Picking Winners and Losers

If anybody is interested, my vote for Most Obnoxious Talking Point of 2014 is “government shouldn’t pick winners and losers.” This has become the universal answer to any form

By Michael Austin

March 11, 2014

Yes, Putin Is Like Hitler—but So Was James K. Polk

I broke my own rule this week and compared somebody to Hitler. It was only a little argumentum ad nazium. I suggested that Russian’s recent move to seize the

By Michael Austin

March 5, 2014

Yes, Putin Is Like Hitler—but So Was James K. Polk

I broke my own rule this week and compared somebody to Hitler. It was only a little argumentum ad nazium. I suggested that Russian’s recent move to seize the

By Michael Austin

March 5, 2014

Sympathy for Chamberlain

“Cheering crowds greeted Daladier in Paris and Chamberlin in London, when properly both men should have been stoned.”—Martha Gellhorn, August 25, 1938 Last night was one of those amazing

By Michael Austin

March 4, 2014

Sympathy for Chamberlain

“Cheering crowds greeted Daladier in Paris and Chamberlin in London, when properly both men should have been stoned.”—Martha Gellhorn, August 25, 1938 Last night was one of those amazing

By Michael Austin

March 4, 2014

Religious Freedom in the Public Sphere

There are people in the world who have sincere religious objections to taking their clothes off in public places while total strangers stuff money in their underwear. These people should

By Michael Austin

February 25, 2014

Religious Freedom in the Public Sphere

There are people in the world who have sincere religious objections to taking their clothes off in public places while total strangers stuff money in their underwear. These people should

By Michael Austin

February 25, 2014

What "Being Right" Means in a World of Value Judgments

Hard Times Here is a quick test that you can use to tell if you are wrong: if you think that every thing about your position on a controversial issue

By Michael Austin

February 23, 2014

What "Being Right" Means in a World of Value Judgments

Hard Times Here is a quick test that you can use to tell if you are wrong: if you think that every thing about your position on a controversial issue

By Michael Austin

February 23, 2014

If More People Have Guns, More People will Use Guns—and More People Will Die

We’ve all seen the stories: a father is shot in a movie theater for texting his four-year old daughter, a young man is shot in a car for playing

By Michael Austin

February 21, 2014

If More People Have Guns, More People will Use Guns—and More People Will Die

We’ve all seen the stories: a father is shot in a movie theater for texting his four-year old daughter, a young man is shot in a car for playing

By Michael Austin

February 21, 2014

Why Conservative Utopias Don’t Work any Better than Liberal Ones

It turns out that Ayn Rand believed in Utopia too—what she described as the “Utopia of Greed.” This was my big takeaway when I read Atlas Shrugged last year

By Michael Austin

February 19, 2014

Why Conservative Utopias Don’t Work any Better than Liberal Ones