Author: Mitchell A. Sobieski

The race to declare a new champion in artificial intelligence has become another media spectacle, one that mirrors the hype cycles of consumer electronics rather than a sober examination of systems that now influence personal decisions, emotional health, and the global information economy. When OpenAI introduced ChatGPT, coverage focused almost entirely on amazement. Reporters framed the system as a technological marvel poised to replace tasks across education, journalism, and healthcare. Headlines emphasized novelty more than accuracy, often repeating company claims without inspecting the limits or risks of the underlying model. The public was shown a parade of demonstrations but...

Donald Trump announced a proposed $12 billion farm aid package on December 8, marketing it as a lifeline for agricultural producers battered by trade disruptions, inflation, and volatile global markets. But the central fact remains unavoidable: this crisis was manufactured by Trump himself, not Beijing. His administration’s own tariff policies destabilized commodity prices, crippled access to the Chinese market, and forced farmers into the same government-dependent posture they often claim to reject – giving handouts to help others. What the White House now frames as relief is more accurately a reimbursement for self-inflicted wounds, financed by taxpayers who had...

A century after the protectionist wave of the early 20th century reshaped global markets and contributed to geopolitical instability abroad, economists and historians say the United States may be entering another period in which domestic tariff decisions carry consequences far beyond the nation’s borders. The debate is unfolding at a moment when trade restrictions are framed as tools of leverage and economic strength, but analysts warn that the past shows how these choices can alter political trajectories in vulnerable regions long before the effects become visible to the public. The pattern is not new. During the 1920s, successive Republican...