Tyler Syck in Law & Liberty outlines two responses to democracy’s vices. Institutionalists suggest empowering elitist mechanisms of government, while culturalists suggest inculcating virtue in the citizenry. Syck argues the culturalists are correct – the best democracies are formed through organic local initiative or self-government.
The Paper-Pushers Who (Barely) Control America’s Skies
Fans of the 1999 movie Pushing Tin will recall frenetic scenes of air traffic controllers working to keep airliners from colliding in crowded skies. The current reality, writes John Tierney in City Journal, is far worse. Control tasks at U.S. airports today are still exchanged using paper “flight strips”. In contrast to this “international disgrace”, writes Tierney, European and even Canadian control towers have gone nearly all-digital.