Idea Almanac

“Noting the similarities in tactics and even uniform between Mussolini’s Blackshirts and Antifa’s street warriors, many conservatives reveled in the irony. The so-called “anti-fascists,” they argued, were actually fascists. But they aren’t fascists, and conservatives’ giggling to the contrary demonstrates the PC trap. Some Antifa members are anarchists; others are Communists. All are very bad fellows. But they are not fascists. By describing them as such, conservatives have accepted the radicals’ premise that fascism uniquely threatens the peace and body politic. As Orwell observed, “The word Fascism has now no meaning except in so far as it signifies ‘something not desirable.’ ” And that is precisely how the radicals want it.”

Excerpt From: Michael Knowles. “Speechless.”

Idea Almanac

“Suddenly everyone seemed to be taking Miltown. And there wasn’t any stigma associated with using the drug. You might think twice before confessing to a colleague that your doctor had put you on a course of Thorazine, but Miltown was nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, it became fashionable—a party drug in Hollywood. People boasted about having a prescription. The pharmaceutical industry was notoriously herdlike, so other companies now set out to develop minor tranquilizers of their own. At Roche, Leo Sternbach’s orders were simple: invent a drug that can outsell Miltown. “Change the molecules a little,” his superiors told him. Make something different enough that we can patent it and charge a premium to sell a competing product, but not so different that we won’t be able to muscle in on Miltown’s market.”

Excerpt From: Patrick Radden Keefe. “Empire of Pain.”