February 11, 2021

CultureLiberty

Reads of the Week: Decentralization and Liberty, Gen Z Foreign Policy, and Minimum Wage Lobbying

By: AF Editors

Each week, we feature opinion pieces from the alumni and current participants of AF’s Writing Fellows Program. A few highlights from the past week are below. Do you dream of having bylines like these? Learn more about how the Writing Fellows Program can help boost your writing career!

States Step In When ‘Local Control’ Threatens Liberty by Satya Marar (Spring 2021) in RealClearPolicy
In a move that’ll greatly benefit small businesses and their workers, Montana’s House of Representatives recently passed a bill to prevent local governments in the Treasure State from passing anti-vaping regulations.

House Bill 137 pre-empts moves to ban the sale of flavored vaping products that have gained traction in various localities nationwide in the name of protecting public health. However, evidence from cities like San Francisco already shows what health experts have long predicted: Such bans are more likely to push smokers and vapers onto significantly more harmful and carcinogenic products, namely cigarettes. Flavors are crucial for making vaping a more appealing option for satiating nicotine cravings and hence an effective smoking cessation aid. Not only do these bans risk public health, they also threaten vape retailers, manufacturers, and other American businesses already struggling through the Covid-19 pandemic…

Who’s Zooming who? What Gen Z really thinks about foreign policy by Natalie Dowzicky (Summer 2019) in Responsible Statecraft
Many of the estimated 68 million Generation Z Americans — more commonly referred to as Zoomers — have reached voting age and are entering the workforce en masse. Not surprisingly, their habits and interests have become subject of much speculation, including how this group — ages 6 to 24 — views the major foreign policy and national security issues of our day.

As someone who is considered the very youngest of millennials or the very oldest of Gen Z — a so-called “cusper” — I appreciate the attention and fully support the infusion of fresh perspectives into the debate…

Amazon’s swampy lobbying for $15 minimum wage proves the little guy really loses by Brad Polumbo (Summer 2018) in the Washington Examiner
If liberals were right that a federal $15 minimum wage would empower workers at the expense of Big Business’s profit margins, giant corporations such as Amazon probably wouldn’t be on their side, but they are.

A top Amazon executive, Jay Carney, recently wrote a letter on the company’s behalf endorsing the Democratic push to more than double the minimum wage nationwide. And Amazon is actively lobbying for the change by running digital ads…