The Reason Roundtable

Are we all just living through Elon Musk's dystopian simulation?

Cesar Garcia and his wife Claudia have lived in their home in the desert town of Coachella, California, for more than 13 years. They've raised three kids there, and Claudia runs an at-home daycare out of the house.

But three years ago, they made a mistake that could cost them their home and livelihood. When converting their back porch into a TV room, they neglected to get a permit from the city.

Garcia ignored early warnings from Coachella's buildings department. Then a team of inspectors showed up unannounced. He entered a guilty plea in court, paid a $900 fine, and demolished the structure as ordered by the judge. Next, he got the proper permit before rebuilding and upgrading the porch into a room for the daycare.

He thought the issue was resolved. But six months later a bill arrived for $26,000.

As the local newspaper the Desert Sun first reported, the city of Coachella is holding Garcia responsible for paying the cost of his own prosection.

Produced by Zach Weissmueller. Camera by Weissmueller and Alexis Garcia.

"Weightlessness," by Daniel Birch is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial License

"The Otherworld," by Secret Jane is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial Share-Alike License

"Monolithes," by Lobo Loco is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial Share-Alike License

"Sad Marimba Planet," by Lee Rosevere is licensed under an Attribution License

Republicans and Democrats may genuinely hate each other, but they love their own power even more. That's why they collude so often to keep those pesky Libertarians, Greens, and independents away from the lucrative levers of government.

The 2018 midterms have been chock full of two-party shenanigans, all too often aided and abetted by journalists, pollsters, and the voters themselves. It all starts with ballot access.

Written by Matt Welch. Camera by Jim Epstein. Edited by Alexis Garcia.

Photo credits: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Newscom

Is socialism more effective than capitalism in bringing freedom to the masses?

That was the resolution at a recent public debated hosted by the Soho Forum on October 15, 2018. It featured Bhaskar Sunkara, the founding editor and publisher of Jacobin magazine, and Gene Epstein, the Soho Forum's director and former economics and books editor of Barron's. Naomi Brockwell moderated.

It was an Oxford-style debate in which the audience votes on the resolution at the beginning and end of the event, and the side that gains the most ground is victorious. Epstein, arguing the negative, prevailed by convincing about 11 percent of audience members to change their minds.

Music: "January" by Kai Engle is licensed under a CC-BY creative commons license.

Which economic system is most effective at bringing freedom to the masses?

The prolific George Mason University economist outlines his unabashedly libertarian argument for a government that does less and individuals who do more.

If hatred is the country's main political motivator these days, you might as well lean into it.

If hatred is the country's main political motivator these days, you might as well lean into it.

Civility is only going to return when people stop treating politics as the only thing that matters—and we start actually shrinking the size, scope, and spending of government and give ourselves some space to breathe.

Battleground - Ethan Meixsell

Work Week - Topher Mohr and Alex Elena

David Harsanyi's First Freedom: A Ride Through America's Enduring History with the Gun documents the unique presence of firearms in U.S. life.