David McElroy

Bernie Sanders’ papers from the period when he was mayor of Burlington, Vt., are public now and the left-wing magazine Mother Jones has had someone go through those papers and extract some fascinating personal insights about Sanders. It’s very rare to get such a window into the personal lives of public figures while they’re still alive. The article paints a picture of a man full of personal angst and self-doubt, and it shows his personal life to have been a mess. It always shocks me that a person can know his personal life is a disaster but still believe he should dictate how others must live their lives. (And this applies to every politician in the coercive political system, not just Sanders.) I have little interest in the politics of this article, but the psychological insights are amazing.

I know this isn’t a popular opinion, but Mark Zuckerberg isn’t nearly as powerful as most people seem to fear. I don’t think especially highly of him. I think he misunderstands humans and I think his business ethics are terrible. But he doesn’t actually have power over anybody other than his own employees. He has an indirect business relationship with many millions of people, but those people hold power over him. If they chose to walk away from Facebook, his career and wealth would be destroyed. As long as our relationship with a company is voluntary, we are the ones with the power — even if you wish other people would make different choices than they do.