G-File

Every Wednesday and Friday, Jonah Goldberg draws on his deep understanding of American history, culture, and conservatism to analyze politics and policy.

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Everything Wrong With the Labor Theory of Value

Everything Wrong With the Labor Theory of Value

Marx didn’t invent the labor theory of value: That work was done by Adam Smith, ...

Biden’s Timeless Obsession

He’s wanted to get out of Afghanistan since he was vice president. It didn’t matter whether the time was right or not.

The Helicopter State

The government can’t love you, and when it works from the premise that it can, folly or tyranny follow.

Dishonor in Afghanistan

This is not the way to get out of this war.

Andrew Cuomo’s Al Capone Moment

It’s good that norms against piggishness are strengthening. But it’s dismaying that the more important norms Cuomo violated seem to be weakening.

Nationalists Turn Their Lonely Eyes to Hungary

It’s not just a dumb and bad model for the United States. It's an impossible one.

Fear and Loathing in the Time of COVID

The pandemic and its attendant stress have turned otherwise normal people into unruly passengers, poorly behaved consumers, and worse.

Looking for Policy Solutions in the Dictionary

A culture obsessed with the performance of language thinks it can solve problems just by finding the right vocabulary to describe them.

Throwing Down With the Anger Police

From COVID backsliding to the Capitol riot, America is beset by a pandemic of false equivalence.

The ‘Rust of Memory’ Is Corrosive to Our Politics

Conservatives tend to be nostalgic for how they think people lived. Liberals tend to be nostalgic about times when they had power.

Of Course the Left Started the Culture War

Progressives push change—good or bad change, it doesn’t matter—and then claim to be victims when they meet resistance.

A ‘News’letter About Nothing—and Everything

Reality is infinitely more complex than the words we use to make sense of it.

Standing Athwart the Bait, Yelling ‘Stop’

What the fight over critical race theory says about the state of our politics.

When Narrative Trumps the Facts

The ratio of noise to signal is becoming overwhelming.

Who’s Oppressing Whom?

The trouble with language police.

When the Perfect Becomes the Enemy of the Good

Progressive demands for inclusion reach ridiculous new heights.