I Believe

Copper made Montana, and Montana made Copper Kings.1899. The Montana legislature elected William A. Clark to the United States Senate. A copper fortune helped him get there. Payments to legislators who would cast the votes helped things along. In 1899, Americans didn’t elect their senators directly. Their representatives did that, and Clark’s agents had gone to the people who could give him the seat.Read the essay: https://joelkdouglas.com/2026/11/10/copper-kings-should-nonprofits-have-a-voice/

A time change, hungry dogs, and an early trip to the polls lead Joel K. Douglas to a more consequential clock: the projected 2032 depletion of Social Security’s Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund reserves. Continuing payroll taxes would still fund benefits, but a shortfall would put people who depend on those checks at risk.Congress faces hard choices about payroll taxes, the taxable earnings cap, wages, immigration, and benefits. This episode asks how to protect current beneficiaries, make Social Security financially sustainable, and give workers and employers time to adjust. Every option disappoints somebody. Waiting makes those choices harder.Read the essay and sources: https://joelkdouglas.com/2026/11/05/ten-years-gone/Artwork: Photo by Brooke Campbell on Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/brass-colored-analog-clock-Rw2-Y0nSIKQ

The boys in Lord of the Flies were rescued by the fire they set to hunt another boy. A good outcome did not make it a good decision.Starting with that irony and a recent experiment with AI agents in simulated societies, Joel K. Douglas asks who should be the adult supervision when we put AI to work. Truthfulness, autonomous weapons, self-defense, and AI-generated images reveal how difficult it is to write rules—and how much still depends on human judgment.Read the essay: https://joelkdouglas.com/2026/11/03/island-on-fire/Despite our mistakes, Joel wants the human in the loop. Authority does not mean trust, and a successful simulation is no reason to put AI in charge of humanity.Artwork: Photo by sippakorn yamkasikorn on Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/reflection-of-light-on-body-of-water-at-night-nVYEechGqqM

A Tale of Data Centers, Clean Water, and the Purpose of GovernmentHow should government measure success? In Pacifica, a fictional dispute over data centers and clean water explores the difference between completing tasks and achieving a mission.Joel K. Douglas connects military planning and measures of effectiveness with USDA rural housing affordability, public spending, and government accountability. The question is whether programs produce measurable public outcomes—not simply more activity, paperwork, or spending.Read the essay and sources: https://joelkdouglas.com/2026/10/29/pacifica/Music: “Midnight Sun” — First Timer (original and instrumental versions).Artwork: Photo by Ganapathy Kumar on Unsplash. https://unsplash.com/photos/natural-arch-at-the-beach-KkbrXx05n8A

Would You Volunteer to Pay Higher Property Taxes?Our property-tax statement came with instructions for applying for a homeowner exemption. Should I claim it, or willingly pay more? From William the Conqueror’s geld and the Domesday Book to Shays’ Rebellion and modern Wyoming, I look at taxation, consent, and what government owes the people who fund it.What should property taxes buy? I ask how we measure results in schools, emergency response, and affordable housing, and weigh the trade-offs of shifting taxes from property to sales.Before asking me to forgo relief, show me what it buys, what it costs, and what breaks without it.Read the full essay

Abortion, bodily autonomy, and the oath of office: a believer’s argument for a woman’s liberty and the responsibility of leaders who swear in God’s name. What does an oath made in God’s name require of public officials? I look at the Ten Commandments, the Constitution’s promise of liberty, and the difference between killing and murder to explain why the decision about a pregnancy belongs to the woman. Full essay and sources: https://joelkdouglas.com/2026/10/22/so-help-me/

Affordability, inflation, and tariffs in a Wyoming ranch town: what elected leaders owe working families, and why tax cuts alone cannot settle that obligation. Private aircraft at the airport in Saratoga, Wyoming, raise a question about whose welfare counts. I examine the costs borne by families, workers, and businesses, and the responsibility of elected leaders to explain how their choices serve justice, general welfare, and the country’s other national goals. Full essay and sources: https://joelkdouglas.com/2026/10/20/private-jets-and-ranch-towns/

Who should pay on the first date—and what are two people trying to build together? As my wife and I approach twenty-five years of marriage, I consider shared finances, unpaid work, changing responsibilities, and the good fortune behind a fiftieth anniversary. John Boyd’s ideas about orientation and adaptation offer another way to think about a shared purpose when life changes.Read the essay and sources: https://joelkdouglas.com/2026/10/15/first-dates-and-fifty-years/

Where does responsibility for climate change begin, and where does it end? Boulder’s lawsuit against ExxonMobil and Suncor leads me to consider the choices of oil companies, consumers, and governments, along with wildfire management and our dependence on useful energy. Shared responsibility does not mean equal responsibility—or letting a company off the hook if it lied.Read the essay and sources: https://joelkdouglas.com/2026/10/13/the-pickup-didnt-fill-itself/

What would it mean for Democrats to become the party of the people again? Ahead of the 2026 midterms, I examine political accountability, wages, housing, healthcare, and the difference between helping people become independent and making them dependent on government. Rural Americans need a voice in party leadership, and people who cannot support themselves still need direct, reliable help.Read the essay and sources: https://joelkdouglas.com/2026/10/08/the-party-that-forgot-the-people/