I was published by the Mises Institute with an article titled “Let Cultures Play Out Their Own Problems.”

In this article, I argue that state coercion cannot cure social practices rooted in a culture’s underlying beliefs. Using sati, santhara, dowry, female foeticide, and British intervention in India, I distinguish voluntary acts from coercion and examine the limits of imposing reform through law.

The state may suppress the visible symptoms of a social problem, but it cannot remove the moral assumptions beneath them. Lasting cultural transformation must instead emerge through education, discussion, and a prolonged churning of ideas within society itself.

Read “Let Cultures Play Out Their Own Problems” at the Mises Institute →