The evidence suggests that empires often react to periods of their own decline by over-extending their coping mechanisms.
Robert Sapolsky: Are We Better off Accepting That There’s No Free Will?
Interviewing the neuroscientist and primate behavior expert on a question that could radically change our understanding of reality.
Why Poverty Reduction Under Capitalism Is a Myth
From its beginnings, the capitalist economic system produced both critics and celebrants, those who felt victimized and those who felt blessed.
Political Collapse: Lessons From Fallen Empires
Our investigation of the disastrous society-wide collapses of four premodern polities, China’s Ming Dynasty, the South Asian Mughal Empire, the High Roman Empire, and Renaissance Venice led to the discovery of an unexpected historical pattern.
Capitalism’s Unequal Distribution Deprives You of True Freedom
As the French economist Thomas Piketty most recently exposed, capitalism, across time and space, has always tended to produce ever-greater economic inequality.
Home Improvement
The North Missoula Community Development Corporation brings permanent affordable housing to Montana.
Community in Motion
Bike co-ops uphold a tradition of self-empowerment through cycling.
The Role of Ancient DNA in Modern Traits
Ancient human retrovirus DNA could be one of the markers of susceptibility to mental illness—specifically schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder, a new study suggests.
The Undemocratic Reality of Capitalism
Fans of capitalism like to say it is democratic or that it supports democracy. Some have stretched language so far as to literally equate capitalism with democracy, using the terms interchangeably.
Air Pollution Is Killing Millions and Rising Exponentially—A Shift in Agriculture Can Solve It
We must find a better way to prevent land use from changing.