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November 26, 2025

Welcome to The Lighthouse, the weekly email newsletter of the Independent Institute covering politics, economics, current events, and everything in between.

Dear Readers,

This Thanksgiving week, as families gather around tables piled high with food, it's worth remembering the Pilgrims’ plight. Reminding us about the important but often forgotten lesson of the first Thanksgiving, Benjamin Powell writes about how the Pilgrims’ experiment with communal living also led to their starvation. Indeed, the Pilgrims’ first true Thanksgiving bounty came only after they abandoned communal farming and embraced private property rights.

In a new episode of Independent Outlook, Graham Walker, Bill Evers, and Phil Magness break down what’s going on at the Heritage Foundation, how to deal with anti-Semitism, Trump’s battle with the BBC, and more.

Alvaro Vargas Llosa warns that Trump’s massive naval buildup of Venezuela signals a looming showdown with Nicolás Maduro. The risk? That intervention could repeat history’s costly lessons of U.S. military overreach, where short-term shows of strength spiral into long-term entanglements.

Sam Jenson lauds John Oliver’s spotlight on America’s felony murder rule, a legal scheme that punishes people for deaths they may have had no involvement in. He argues that this outdated doctrine is horrifically unjust.

Thomas Howe explores how postliberal thinkers’ embrace of Carl Schmitt’s “state of exception” risks normalizing authoritarianism under the guise of serving the common good. His piece comes in the wake of controversy surrounding Tucker Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes, raising urgent questions about the boundaries of political thought.

Alen Gindler tracks the chatter heading into the next Federal Reserve meeting. The pressure is likely to prompt another cut in December despite little relief felt from the previous rate cut.

Craig Eyermann delivers a review and post-mortem for DOGE, which was recently shuttered prematurely.

Finally, a new episode of The Independent with Scott Atlas has dropped, this time with Harmeet Dhillon as a guest. The two discuss DEI and censorhsip on campus, and what Trump’s DOJ is doing about it.

Enjoy—and happy Thanksgiving!

Jonathan Hofer
Managing Editor

Top picks this week
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** The Pilgrims’ Real Thanksgiving Lesson ([link removed])
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** by Benjamin Powell
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The economic incentives provided by private competitive markets, where people are left free to make their own choices, make bountiful feasts possible.
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** Crackup on the Right, BBC Bias, Rent Control Revisited | Independent Outlook 74 ([link removed])
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Anti-Semitism? Post-liberalism? Suing the BBC? Learn the truth about all these topics on this new episode of Independent Outlook.
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** The U.S. Armada Facing Maduro ([link removed])
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** Lessons of costly interventions ([link removed])
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** by Alvaro Vargas Llosa
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President Trump’s naval force off the coast of Venezuela sure doesn’t look like an anti-narcotics operation.
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** John Oliver Is Right About Felony Murder ([link removed])
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** America’s relic of collective punishment must be abolished, or more innocents will suffer. ([link removed])
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** by Sam Jenson
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John Oliver hits the nail on the head. It’s time for serious reform.
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** The Postliberal Push: The Mainstreaming of Carl Schmitt’s Authoritarianism ([link removed])
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** by Thomas D. Howes
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The two most famous works of Schmitt are most valuable to those with tribalist and authoritarian feelings in need of rationalization—but what about those of us interested in rationalizing such feelings?
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** Will New Employment Data Influence the Fed’s Decision? ([link removed])
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** by Allen Gindler
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The Fed may well be tempted to cut rates again in December to “support” business activity and hiring.
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** DOGE Disbanded ([link removed])
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** by Craig Eyermann
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The Trump administration’s highest visibility effort to reduce wasteful spending within the U.S. government is coming to an early end.
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** VIDEO
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** Harmeet Dhillon | How the Trump DOJ Is Dismantling Campus DEI and Censorship | Ep. 60 ([link removed])
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What important work is being done in the Trump administration regarding civil rights and freedom in America today? Scott Atlas and Harmeet Dhillon discuss in this episode of The Independent with Scott Atlas.
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** FEATURED BOOK
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** Beyond Homeless ([link removed])
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** Good Intentions, Bad Outcomes, Transformative Solutions ([link removed])
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** Edited by Mary L. G. Theroux, Lawrence J. McQuillan, and Adam B. Summers
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“With an impressive array of scholars and data, Beyond Homeless should be essential reading for those curious about how to change course on homelessness.”

—Judge Glock, Director of Research and Senior Fellow at the

Manhattan Institute; contributing editor of City Journal
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