Gimme a ticket for an Ærø plane
I’ve discovered the secret to doing travel writing while stuck at home during a global pandemic. It’s simple: extreme procrastination. Last August, I traveled to northern Europe to research a few stories, and I just now finally got around to writing the first of them. It’s a story I’ve wanted to tell for a long time, about a woman who hand-rolls cigars on a tiny farm she tends herself on Ærø, a small island off the southern coast of Denmark. Among other things, the piece explores the differing trajectories of markets for beer and tobacco, how things might have gone differently, and one way in which Denmark is economically freer than the United States. Read it at Arc Digital.
(A few other notes: The photo is from David L. Reamer, which we didn’t get to use for the story. Arc Digital is a fairly new publication, and it’s worth following for smart political commentary from a wide range of perspectives. I’ll hopefully be writing more for them in the near future. Ærø itself is one of my favorite places I’ve ever visited. There are few cars on the island, so it’s great for biking, and the town Ærøskøbing is beautifully preserved. Ærø has become a destination for weddings, not just because of the scenery, but also because it has some of the most accommodating laws in Europe, welcoming foreigners and same-sex couples who might face difficulties marrying elsewhere. The New York Times covered this a few years ago. If you get an opportunity to visit, I highly recommend it.)
Also on the topic of tobacco, Christopher Snowdon (author of Velvet Glove, Iron Fist) has a very positive review of my recent book up at Spiked. Chris notes that my views, though uncontroversial just a few years ago, now make me “virtually a libertarian provocateur today.” Perhaps some day I’ll make my way back to actual libertarian provocateur!
Stimulus
Saving bars and restaurants is becoming an increasingly urgent challenge, especially as emergency loans run out and we head into the fall and winter, when opportunities for outdoor dining will decrease. I have a new video up at Reason making the case for legalizing to-go cocktails and expanding spaces for outdoor drinking to provide a lifeline for struggling businesses. Watch it here, and freeze the frame if you want to look through my aquavit collection in the background. The video draws on my earlier article for Reason, which makes the argument in a little more depth. See also this piece by Baylen Linnekin, posted today, on the welcome benefits of alcohol deregulation.
Also worth reading: Jordan Weissmann’s case for bailing out the bars. One point I’d add to these arguments is that it’s better to frame these ideas as restitution rather than as bailouts. If the government takes your land to build a hospital, it owes you compensation. It's not that much of a stretch to extend the principle to government closing your business to protect public health. “Bailouts” have negative connotations because they're seen as rewarding economically risky behavior. But bars aren't being sunk by bad investments or bad management; they're just not something you necessarily want open in a pandemic. Calling for a bailout also brings up the question of whether bars are worthy of receiving one, and people understandably object that bars are far from an essential industry. Restitution makes a more sympathetic case as a matter of justice.
For a practical idea of how government could help save small businesses affected by the pandemic, see this plan by Adam Ozimek and John Lettieri.
Other reading
The epidemic in America is getting worse, and in very predictable ways. Rather than dwell on that, here are a few escapist things to read.
On the topic of remote islands, I learned a ton from this history of the Falklands in the New Yorker. A long read, but well worth it.
This is a very good profile of physicist Angelo Bassi, which gets into the debate about how to resolve some of the weirdness in quantum physics.
Winners of the 2020 Audubon Society photography competition.
Social distancing
To watch: I was skeptical that HBO’s Watchmen sequel could possibly live up to its ambitions, but after finally watching it I’m happy to have been proven wrong. It’s phenomenally good, both as a continuation of the fictional world of the comic and as an exploration of race in America.
To read: One of my philosophy professors from Vanderbilt, Robert Talisse, has a recent book out called Overdoing Democracy. It’s academic but short, making the case that part of what ails democracy in the US is that we’re doing too much of it, losing the capacity to relate to each other outside of our political roles. It’s also on sale at Amazon right now for the ridiculously low price of $2.43, so you have nothing to lose by picking it up.
To drink: Let’s continue the Danish theme with the only cocktail I’ve ever made for royalty, the Royal Reception, created for last year’s House of Scandinavia event at SXSW featuring a speech by the Crown Princess of Denmark. It’s floral, herbaceous, and refreshing, with two different kinds of Danish aquavit.
1 oz Aalborg Jubilæums akvavit
1 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz Aalborg Taffel akvavit
1/2 oz Italicus
1/4 oz yellow Chartreuse
1/4 oz honey syrup (2:1 honey to water by weight)
1 dash Scrappy’s lavender bitters
1 1/2 oz sparkling wine
Combine all but the wine and shake with ice. Strain into a chilled coupe, top with the sparkling wine, and garnish with a lemon twist.
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