Some commentary on recent Internet things:

As one of my Facebook friends put it best, “Dude, did Paul Krugman actually just publish an article about how fears of ineffective government are divorced from real world experience on the fifth day of open warfare between government officials and the citizens of Ferguson, MO?” Police officers in the U.S. can beat and murder black people with something just short of impunity, the government spies on us constantly, our army regularly blows up little brown-skinned kids in the third world, but Paul Krugman had a nice time at the DMV. I’ll one up you there, Paulie. Fairfax County water parks are a lot of fun, so, therefore, social democracy! Take that, libertarians. 

Sarah Silverman is not a fan of pay day loans. But, damn, Sarah, here’s a nice case where some economic reasoning would help. If you sincerely believe that pay day loan stores are giving people a bad deal, then put your money where your mouth is. According to you, they’re charging rates that are far too high, or have other practices that are too insidious, practices that are not at all justified by the horrible credit ratings and high delinquency of the customers. If so, then you and John Oliver should start a chain of nice, non-exploitative pay day loan stores. You can charge fair rates and have warm, friendly practices. Since you’re offering customers a much better deal, and since the nasty behaviors of the other stores are not necessary to make a profit, you’ll make tens of millions of dollars easily (which you can then donate to your favorite charities), all while better serving people who need quick loans. Start a social business! Seriously, Sarah, if you’re right, you should easily be able to start a chain that treats customers better and still makes high profits. (Aside: There are so many payday lenders in poor areas. Shouldn’t we expect that they’re in a competitive market, and are price-takers rather than price-makers?)

UPDATE:

This article argues that Catholicism and libertarianism are incompatible. So much the worse for Catholicism, I guess. Since it turns out that a society of perfectly just, perfectly good, Christ-like people would be libertarian anarcho-capitalists, I guess it follows that Catholicism is incompatible with justice.