I used to conduct research experiments on farm plots. Most ag researchers probably plant seed modified to resist a pesticide (the pesticide) to keep plots weed-free. I sometimes asked the guys helping to spray our plots what they thought about the company (the company) that owns the intellectual property (IP); manufactures; and sells the chemical and seed. The question switched off their usual jokiness, and they got really uneasy and quiet, shrugging and saying its not great. If you read about the company, you can understand why the got really silent. The company has infamously sued farmers for stealing IP-protected seed, aka: neighbor’s pollen (protected) blows onto farmers’ seed; or farmer saves the seed for next season. Besides this, the company also funds many researchers; university and farm conferences; and kids’ farm organizations. When a company possesses so much power, they can make people do what they want, even if they don’t like it: make them plant the company’s seed, spray the company’s pesticide, submit to all kinds of data collection; conduct and publish their research, provide academic and legal cover, lobby governments to grant them immunity from lawsuits from people sickened by their products.¹

These days, I look around and see this type of power in every industry that puts the boot on peoples’ necks. The big 4 meatpacking companies make farmers go deep into debt to construct production facilities for the company.² And because they now hold farmers’ keys out of debt they can cut payment;³ increase prices to buyers; or misrepresent the country of origin of meat.⁴ The biggest grocery retailer forces suppliers to lower prices and then increase prices to competitor retailers and their customers. The big 3 memory manufacturers and graphics card manufacturer control the parts for modern computing; and cut supply and raise prices to researchers and consumers.⁵ The big insurance companies own the company approving and denying claims (and often, the hospital, pharmacy, and pharmacy benefit manager) so abuse their conflict of interest to deny your claim.⁶ On the worker side, these companies often employ the most people in town, and so, reduce pay and benefits without fear of discipline; or bust unions.⁷

Across the economy, from airlines to internet service to hospitals to gambling to agriculture, a handful of individuals exercise outsize power over peoples’ lives.⁸ And people suffer the consequences: whether from breathing or drinking more polluted air or water, to spending more time on automated call service to chase down answers to denied claims, to paying more, to toiling more for lower pay, to losing freedom and control over their lives.

I’d agree strongly with many others who advocate for and have enforced the laws preventing crimes that gives rise to such power. Protecting against unfair, deceptive, or unjustly discriminatory acts, forces companies to compete on the merits and honestly, instead of by cheating to become dominant. And the Constitution and Congress wrote laws that allow citizens and agencies to enforce these laws.

Agencies, for example, can identify and ban practices, like junk fees and noncompetes, that fall into these categories through rulemaking and enforcement authorities^{9 10}. Congress, private plaintiffs, and agencies can utilize breakups to separate companies that own an adjacent business and can exploit a conflict of interest, like the seed company that owns the intellectual property and seed dealerships; or the insurance company that owns the company that denies or approves treatment. Faithfully enforcing existing laws, that prohibit acts that may lessen competition or may substantially create a monopoly, should heavily discourage executives from proposing an illegal merger in the boardroom; or directing the company to engage in forms of price discrimination or exclusive dealing.¹⁰ Legislatures can enact public utility obligations for some companies, as they did with railroads, to serve all customers equally and reasonably, including by offering fair use licensing of intellectual property. Government ownership, like a military commissary or veterans administration or postal service, can ensure a basic level of service for all people; and act as a spur to force companies to compete harder on the merits.

Above, I have outlined some of the tools to protect fair competition on the merits. I should say, by protect fair competition on the merits, I mean protecting a fair mode of competition. Fair competition modes differs from unfair modes. Unfair modes include burning down competitors’ facilities or bribing competitors. As courts have affirmed, fair and meritorious forms of competition include those like developing better products or offering better benefits to attract workers and customers.¹¹ What purpose though animates robust enforcement of the laws protecting free and fair markets? In the next few posts, I’d like to descibe how the of anti-monopoly focuses around dispersing power away from centralized power; to people broadly, so that people can live and work in freedom and dignity.

Lonnie Jung: And what do you sacrifice?

Luthen: Calm. Kindness. Kinship. Love. I’ve given up all chance at inner peace. I’ve made my mind a sunless space. I share my dreams with ghosts.

I wake up every day to an equation I wrote 15 years ago from which there’s only one conclusion, I’m damned for what I do.

My anger, my ego, my unwillingness to yield, my eagerness to fight, they’ve set me on a path from which there is no escape. I yearned to be a savior against injustice without contemplating the cost and by the time I looked down there was no longer any ground beneath my feet.

What is my sacrifice? I’m condemned to use the tools of my enemy to defeat them. I burn my decency for someone else’s future. I burn my life to make a sunrise that I know I’ll never see!

And the ego that started this fight will never have a mirror or an audience or the light of gratitude. So what do I sacrifice? Everything!

In Star Wars Andor, a small group of disconnected individuals begins plotting and carrying out what becomes the rebellion against the Galactic Empire. One leader of this movement, Luthen Rael, lives a double life on the Imperial capital planet Coruscant. In his public-facing life, he charmingly markets rare antiques to high society types, including to government officials. When he removes his wig, he covertly funds, coordinates, and carries out acts that provoke the Empire to put the boot on people; and tides people into joining the rebellion.

Luthen’s character and the acts that he commits often seem morally questionable. For example, Lonnie Jung, his mole working as an officer in the Imperial Security Bureau (ISB), finds out that the ISB knows in advance about an attack by a significant rebel group. In the same meeting as the dialogue above, Lonnie alerts Luthen to warn the group about the ISB’s trap. Instead of assuring Lonnie that he will warn the group, Luthen says to let them fall into the trap and die. That way, he can keep the ISB unsuspicious about his mole Lonni in their midst. And, several times thereafter, Luthen instigates conflict that lead to Imperial troops brutally suppressing people, such that the rest of the galaxy can witness the Empire’s injustice and sympathize with the rebellion. Even though Luthen causes people including himself to suffer intensely, he believes this serves a broader goal of igniting more people to rebel; and make a sunrise that he’ll never see.^{1 2}

I should say, dear reader, that I hold no desire to be Luthen; nor do I remotely share any of Luthen’s qualities like bravery, master planning, or willingness to sacrifice.³ I also don’t want to wade into debating whether Luthen acted morally (I reject the premise of your trolley problem!!).⁴ Instead, I want to focus on understanding Luthen sacrificing his “calm, kindness, kinship, love” and “burn[ing] my decency for someone else’s future.” What drives him to sacrifices? Or what drives us to sacrifice? I’d like to cover this in the next few posts.

⁴ Restore our fortunes again, Yahweh, like the streams in the Negev. ⁵ Those who sow in tears will reap in joy. ⁶ He who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, will certainly come again with joy, carrying his sheaves.

In verse 4, I find some similarity between the desert of Negev receiving watering to the very dry bones in Ezekiel receiving the breath of the Lord¹. These two examples,² dry desert and (very) dry bones, represent the destination of Israelites who trust in their own power (to rule themselves or stand against hostile neighbors) instead of in God ³. As a result, they fall captive to their neighbors (Babylonian captivity) and live in a desolate land of hungry people driven against each other to survive.⁴

When the streams water the dry desert of Negev, greenery returns. When the Lord restores his people, life returns. The Lord promises peace like a river,⁵ water that courses steadfastly bringing life to trees and crops alongside. When the woman at the well receives Jesus the true water, she at once returns to town and tells the people she was avoiding to Come and see this Jesus.⁶ In all, God’s restoration of his people also transforms us from sin and death; to life.

Verse 5-6 describe those who sow in tears reaping joy and harvest. Here, I think of three implications of these verses. First, we shed tears as we give up our hold over our lives, whether the sin we clung to or our own plans to glorify ourselves! We weep as we scatter seeds into the soil not knowing if they sprout and bear a harvest: in tears and with a blind faith we give up and die to our familiar lives of sin.

Second, the one who will restore us, Christ, is our sower in tears. In John 12, Jesus tells his disciples that a kernel of wheat that falls to the ground and dies produces many seeds.⁷ He, like the kernel of wheat, endures the shame of the cross hanging on a tree cursed⁸ and forsaken by God;⁹ and falls to the ground in burial. Jesus also wept in John 11, as he sees Mary and those gathered around weeping: he weeps as they do in grief for Lazarus who dies. Jesus weeps too because they still don’t see that he is the Lord of life.¹⁰ In Luke 22, before Jesus submits himself to crucifixion, he prays in anguish on the Mount of Olives. He sweat like drops of blood falling to the ground.¹¹ Jesus wept and sweat like blood; so great was his love for the world and for his father.

Finally, though sowing in tears, Jesus rises from the dead. In him we died to sin; in him we rose to life.¹² We wept when we died to our familiar sinful lives; in him we receive new life, returning with songs of joy. And if we return with songs of joy, don’t our mouths also fill with laughter; and we become like those who dream?¹³ The tears wept sowing seed He bore unto his death. But God who raises Jesus also raises us.¹⁴ One day, Jesus will wipe every tear and death shall be no more.¹⁵ He died so that he might bring forth a harvest and life for those who believe. One day the sun shines through the sheaves golden in the field. One day he and we return, singing songs of joy, carrying sheaves.

Even with the warm weather these days, I can sense fall settling into place. Looking across the highway I can see leaf tips begin to redden. In the morning the air smells of damp leaves. Sound of crickets in the tall grass. Summer days passing, the evening night quiet and dark, the moon and streetlights a pale yellow, and some of the nighttime breeze smells faintly of October and I miss the long days of summer.

¹ When Yahweh brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like those who dream. ² Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “Yahweh has done great things for them.” ³ Yahweh has done great things for us, and we are glad. ⁴ Restore our fortunes again, Yahweh, like the streams in the Negev. ⁵ Those who sow in tears will reap in joy. ⁶ He who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, will certainly come again with joy, carrying his sheaves.

“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion” (1). The Lord restored (past tense), meaning that the Lord restored us once. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth; and saw that all he made was very good.¹ Adam sinned and brought death to the world.² And again and again, the Lord restored his obstinate people.³

“We were like those who dreamed” (1). A few other verses in the Bible mention dreaming, like Joel 2:28 (“Your old men will dream dreams”).⁴ Here, it should seem that young men, growing in strength and looking forward to their years ahead, dream. Old men with gray heads ⁵ probably reminisce or yearn for the past. When the Lord restored our fortunes, we looked ahead, our eyes full of hope, to a brightly shining future.

“Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy” (2). Laughter and joyful songs flowed naturally. “When the Lord restored… The Lord has done great things…”* (active tense) while “our mouths were filled…” (passive tense). God provides while we receive. His restoration produces in us a joy that overflows out of our mouths.

“Then it was said among the nations…” (2). Neighboring countries could not help but notice our joy overflowing into proclamations. In turn they praise God. “The Lord has done great things for them” (3). Our laughter and joyful songs catch the ears of all around us; and cause them to acknowledge God who does great things.

If we know the Lord, how can we choose anything other than his provision? Don’t we remember when our mouths filled with laughter and our tongues with singing? How those around watched enviously and praised the Lord! But we all like sheep have gone astray.⁶ We have trusted in our own beauty.⁷ And so we dream no longer.

To be continued…

Sobotka: I’m done with you. I’ve got a union to run!

Vondas doesn’t say anything. The two look across the harbor.

Vondas: They used to make steel there no?

The two watch the plant’s smokestacks still puffing smoke.

Vondas (smiling slightly): Smoke from the stacks. But inside…

Vondas looks at Sobotka, shrugs, and walks away, as Sobotka stares across the grey harbor.

In The Wire Season 2, dockworkers union president Frank Sobotka fights to preserve business for the dwindling number of workers he represents. To fill the gap in union dues, he makes a deal with The Greeks to allow them illegal transit of material through the Port of Baltimore.

But, one shipment goes horribly wrong, and Sobotka, worrying about the consequences of increased police scrutiny of the union, angrily confronts Vondas to terminate the arrangement. Vondas, reading Sobotka perfectly, compares the union’s decline to the decline in the Baltimore steel industry. He smiles knowingly at Sobotka: You see, the decline of unions and manufacturing pass by inevitably. You can talk tough about the union, but you’re really blowing smoke. You need us now to survive.

Hereabouts, I often hear opinions similar to this message:

• Farmers and local businesses are closing because consumers demand cheap food and products!
• We can never enjoy universal healthcare because a few people will greedily schedule appointments and drain the money from the insurance pool!
• We can never produce food or necessities of life because other countries will outcompete us!¹

The common thread to these opinions revolves around the idea that our circumstances stem from the individual choices of regular people, which I find questionable and unhelpful. For example, a person lamenting the loss of independent local business contributes to that loss if they shop at dominant retailers or e-retailers. But really, what sort of evidence can support this idea that a single regular individual or even a group (boycotting) can materially change the prospects of a local business?² And what do we gain by thinking of problems as arising from an irredeemable human condition? Doesn’t thinking like this cause us to arrive at the belief that fundamentally nothing can stop the human march toward self-ruination? If that’s the case, why should people even attempt self-government?

I instead support the view (reality!) that our circumstances originate from law. Laws written by elected representatives and enforced by institutions, courts, and private citizens, still flow from people making decisions that affect others. Laws (or lack of enforcement of laws) determine how a person works, whether with dignity and free and exercising creative entrepreneurial spirit or toil under the thumb of unchecked bosses.³

Under the view that all markets stem from law, “private” commerce does not exist. All commerce bears a public character in their effect on peoples lives.⁴ In the U.S., lawmakers wrote laws borrowing this principle from English common law; and applied these laws to intermediary businesses essential to the flow of commerce⁵. Intermediaries carrying this public character included, for example, inns, bakers, ice manufacturers, grain elevators, meatpacking plants, and transporters. As people developed new forms of commerce, Congress acted to require specific duties for these market-mediating platforms to serve all comers in ways free of deception, unfairness, and undue preferences, among other guardrails.⁶

Under this view, our circumstances flow from laws and their application. Why are farmers and local businesses closing down? Most likely the super retailer the next town over is breaking the law by coercing suppliers to lower prices which forces them to raise prices to competitors like the local store. Why can Americans never enjoy universal affordable healthcare? Most likely the dominant insurance company has illegally acquired the clinic, the pharmacy benefit manager, the pharmacy, and the company approving and denying claims; and can charge higher prices and deprive competitors dependent on its businesses. Why can the U.S. not produce basic necessities, like food, sterile saline bags, pharmaceutical ingredients, Bibles? Most likely the dominant companies in these industries compete by hiring lower paid workers in or from other countries; breaking unions; lobbying for favorable laws; and so, drive honest competitors out of business.

All this to say, in response to the common opinions about inevitability: we absolutely can change course because we all live under and participate in a nation governed by rule of law!

²² Joshua called for them, and he spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ when you live among us? ²³ Now therefore you are cursed, and some of you will never fail to be slaves, both wood cutters and drawers of water for the house of my God.” ²⁴ They answered Joshua, and said, “Because your servants were certainly told how Yahweh your God commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you. Therefore we were very afraid for our lives because of you, and have done this thing. ²⁵ Now, behold, we are in your hand. Do to us as it seems good and right to you to do.” ²⁶ He did so to them, and delivered them out of the hand of the children of Israel, so that they didn’t kill them. ²⁷ That day Joshua made them wood cutters and drawers of water for the congregation and for Yahweh’s altar to this day, in the place which he should choose.

In the passage, God has been giving the Israelites victory over the neighboring people groups.¹ While the other peoples gather to oppose them, the Gibeonites hear about these recent victories and fear for their lives. They put on worn sandals and carry moldy bread; and so, deceive the Israelites into thinking that they pose no threat and ratifying a peace treaty between both groups.²

The writer of Joshua observes in verse 14 that the Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. They trust in their eyes and ears to conclude wrongly that the Gibeonites really did represent harmless people from a distant country.³

After finding out about their error, Joshua graciously saves them from the Israelites; and makes them woodcutters and water carriers to serve at God’s altar (26-27).

I think this passage shows a picture of God’s grace. The Gibeonites expect to die and endure wrath.⁴ But Joshua shows them mercy; and gives them a humble post to worship God (27). To me this seems like another example in the Old Testament of imperfect depictions of Jesus (The prophets, Levitical priests, judges, kings all foreshadow Jesus the true priest who offers up himself, who judges, who rules as king of war and peacetime…)

Maybe relatedly, sometimes in this place I think that I resort to so-and-so dress to blend in better with people. One day I’m striding around like a union rep asking people (smiling winningly) for a thermometer to measure the building’s temperature. The other day I’m adding fuel to the fire as my tablemates lament society’s moral decay. I started off writing this post about an interesting chat between me and this fellow (pleasant but an unnerving gaze) who was about to start telling me about Christian nationalism. I wonder if I’m sinning by blending in deceptively this way (probably). Still, thanks be to God. Jesus saves!

¹¹ The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. So where do you get that living water? ¹² Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, as did his children, and his livestock?” ¹³ Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again,

¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” ¹⁵ The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I don’t get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw.” ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”

Jesus chooses to travel an unusual route to meet a woman¹ who is avoiding the rest of town to draw water midday²; and offers her living water.³ The woman asks him where she can get this living water (11) and Jesus tells her to go and call her husband (16).

Here’s an interesting thought. What if this woman is more of a renaissance lady: possessed of power to move from one husband to the next… As soon as one wears out his charm, she tries out the next.⁴ Maybe the woman remains fully possessed of her worldly desires!

Here, though, regardless of if she possesses her wordly desires or not, the woman faces Jesus who offers living water. This Jesus and the water he offers seem far more quenching to the physical “water” (gaining husbands) that the woman has needed to draw frequently.⁵

Also, what is she thinking when Jesus mentions the woman’s husbands? By pointing this out he is drawing to the surface her deep desire. Maybe part of her takes offense at the rudeness of another person seemingly guessing at and revealing her deep desire.

If I similarly encountered Jesus, part of me would probably want to leave offended. The presumptuousness of this man! The difficult truth! Telling me to trust that the water he offers will cause me to never thirst. But part of her sees Jesus and the water he offers for truth and water that springs up to eternal life. And she turns to him.

If we too could see our chasing after worldly desires as leading to unquenchable thirst the second we encounter Jesus. Might we see Jesus and receive him who offers water that springs up to eternal life!

¹⁶ Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. ¹⁷ Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, ¹⁸ another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.

¹⁹ Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” ²⁰ So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. ²¹ The price was two-thirds of a shekel for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.

²² So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

In the passage, king Saul and son Jonathan are facing against Philistines who send out parties to raid them. However, the Israelites lack a blacksmith in their whole land so they cannot make swords or spears (vs. 19); or sharpen everyday implements like plow points (20).

At some point, the Philistines had gained control of the abilities to both make and sharpen metal tools. The Philistines’ control over these basic abilities allows them to prevent the Israelites from raising up and training a single blacksmith of their own (19). And by controlling these abilities, the Philistines cause the Israelites to need to travel to Philistine land to sharpen tools; and pay prices the Philistines set (21).

How did the Israelites bring about the conditions leading to 1 Samuel 13? I’d guess that in earlier years, Israelite tribes probably learned about how to mine, refine, produce, and sharpen iron tools; and set up a localized set of systems in each tribe.¹

In this way, each tribe could possess the means to produce armaments and infrastructure to carry out the conquests described in Joshua, Judges,² and³ Ruth.⁴

But, as Joshua and Judges describe, the Israelite tribes neglected and failed to obey God’s commands completely; and as a result, reap the consequences of their failure.

If only the Israelites had completely obeyed God; and vigilantly protected their local and decentralized iron production and sharpening system!⁵

I wanted to learn how to self-host using my own storage and version control setup using git but not github.

So I followed a mix of tutorials on docker, git, runners, and blogdown. Big credit to the stack overflow and open source contributors.¹ I ended up using this simple and functional hugo prose theme created by Yihui.

This theme features sidenotes!²

In setting this up, I chose to use R blogdown package to access useful functions. For example, instead of needing to manually copy/paste passages and superscript verse numbers, I retrieve the text and output formatted text for Psalm 126:³

bibletext <- jsonlite::fromJSON(
   "https://bible-api.com/psalm+126"
) %>%
  bind_rows(.) %>%
  pull(verses) %>%
  mutate(
    text = paste0( gsub("\\b(\\d+)\\b", "<sup>\\1</sup>",verse), " ", text)
  ) %>%
  pull(text) %>%
  paste(., collapse = " ") %>%
  cat("<blockquote>\n", ., "\n</blockquote>")

¹ When Yahweh brought back those who returned to Zion, we were like those who dream. ² Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “Yahweh has done great things for them.” ³ Yahweh has done great things for us, and we are glad. ⁴ Restore our fortunes again, Yahweh, like the streams in the Negev. ⁵ Those who sow in tears will reap in joy. ⁶ He who goes out weeping, carrying seed for sowing, will certainly come again with joy, carrying his sheaves.