Remember the 5th of November

It's the 5th of November. In some places, this marks the end of Daylight Saving Time, at least for now. Over in England, it's the 418th anniversary of Gunpowder Plot day, when Guy Fawkes and company tried to blow up their government. And it's exactly one year until Americans will vote on whether to blow …

How to vote in a late-stage two-party system

No voting system is perfect, but one of the worst systems that is even remotely compatible with democracy is the one known as first-past-the-post. In the simplest form of this system, each voter gets one vote per contest. A contest may have more than two candidates. The candidate with the most votes wins, even if …

Why is a ______ tax fair?

Certain types of people like to ask the question "Why is a progressive tax fair?" The inevitable answer given is "marginal utility!" The theory is that if a rich person and a poor person both have to pay an extra 50 spacebucks (or whatever currency is used in your realm) in taxes, it doesn't reduce …