Not long ago, new kinds of jobs appeared: app-based gig work. They include jobs like dog walking on Rover, Taskrabbit work, DoorDash food delivery, Uber and Lyft driving … Lots of people like gig work. It’s flexible. You work when you want to work. But “workers’ rights” activists and governing socialists don’t like that. Gig workers rarely join unions. They don’t get a minimum wage. “Uber and Lyft exploit their workers” is a headline at MS NOW. “We can’t ignore it.” The Democratic Socialists said they had a solution. Seattle’s City Council imposed a $26 delivery driver minimum wage. What could go wrong? Two years later, we know the answer: Gig workers make no more money, but prices went up. Apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats added a $5 fee for consumers “to help cover the costs of these … regulations.” Now Seattle residents complain about prices. “I ordered a $12 sandwich … $12 grew to $32!” complains one in my new video. “I just deleted the app.” “[Work] has become slow because of the new law,” app drivers complain. DoorDash got 1.7 million fewer Seattle orders. This is what happens when politicians dictate wages. “Obviously, when you’re increasing cost to businesses, you’re going to increase costs to customers,” says economics professor Judge Glock. “These are unimaginably complicated markets where the company’s main job is interfacing between restaurants and delivery workers and customers. Then you have an economically illiterate city council or mayor who thinks, basically, by looking at an industry through reading the news, they can appropriately regulate the exact wage.” Former Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson admits that the politicians made a mistake: “We created a problem and it’s our responsibility to fix it.” They repealed the harmful law? No. Nelson said they just needed to adjust their numbers: “If we had gotten the minimum pay standard right, we would not see the decline in the revenue.” Such conceit! Somehow, the political class knows exactly what every worker should be paid. Price controls never work. Flexible pricing does. Competition forces businesses to constantly adjust pay and prices to attract workers and customers. When smug politicians think they can set a price that’s “right,” “it’s just patently absurd,” says Glock. “You’re not going to have any improved well-being for people, and you’re not going to have increased wages for those workers.” A similar minimum wage increase failed in New York City, after politicians guaranteed app-based drivers an hourly minimum of about $20. “The decrease in tips and increased competition for jobs offset all of the gains from that imposed minimum wage,” says Glock. “It’s this continual whack-a-mole tendency. The market responds, [so politicians] pass a new regulation to try to prevent that response. They think the next regulation will somehow squelch the greed out of the system, but there’s simply no way to do that.” Competition is the only good way to decide what people get paid. “A lot of politicians believe there’s a free lunch or a fixed pot of money that they can give out to the neediest people.” says Glock. “The actual effect was not to improve the well-being of workers, but to increase costs for customers and sabotage one of the most successful businesses in the city.” We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal. COPYRIGHT 2026 BY JFS PRODUCTIONS INC.

LUZERNE COUNTY, Pennsylvania—Over the Flag Day weekend in Pennsylvania, crowds gathered, and communities were formed in the most unlikely of places, under viaducts, along gravel-filled tracks, and at the base of some impressive Appalachian mountains, all just to watch as Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 rolled through northeastern Pennsylvania. The sheer presence of the locomotive drew crowds. Celebrations were formed among strangers for a couple of reasons: The locomotive is a reminder of what American workers, engineers, and laborers are capable of building. And continuing to honor that is part of the American ethos of exceptionalism. Also, Americans just love to be part of something bigger than themselves. Yes, we will fiercely defend our individualism. But we are also uniquely aspirational about what we can do together for the greater good. This is pretty much something that we do daily when no one is looking, but social media has placed our intuitive community gathering in the spotlight. The moment was just part of a phenomenon that European soccer fans have been delightfully experiencing as they travel across our country to support their country’s team in pursuit of the World Cup. Social media has been filled with fans such as “Freddy from Germany,” who unabashedly enjoys his discoveries of everyday American experiences, such as Waffle House, Walmart, and Buc-ee’s. He found out quite quickly that we love to form associations around everything, including people enjoying our country’s simple delights. Freddy’s colorful and joyful accounts are a dramatic reversal of the conventional wisdom that Europeans do not view America as an ally. A recent poll conducted by the European Council on Foreign Relations shows only 11% of Europeans across 15 countries view the United States as a reliable partner. The same has happened with Scottish football fan Shaun Hamilton. His X account has been actively posting about American hospitality and kindness and the embraces that he and countrymen have received. His posts showing the fans of the Scottish national football team taking over Boston, with thousands of kilt-clad Scots partying in Boston Harbor, attracted attention. So did his posts of the breathtaking scenes at Gillette Stadium or the George Washington statue at Fenway Park getting the classic Scottish treatment by getting crowned with a traffic cone. Perhaps my favorite moment has been watching the Scottish and Haitian fans having a dance-off in kilts ahead of the first match. As Kyle Smith at The Wall Street Journal pointed out on Sunday, when Freddy made it to Houston, and the German soccer fans noted with awe the size of the stadium: “Alex von Tocqueville.” This humorous play on words is allied to Alexis de Tocqueville, the French nobleman and astute observer of American society. Smith understood the plot all around us. America is a place that is unique and special, and it should be celebrated. When Tocqueville came to America in 1831, just shy of 200 years ago, what he observed astonished him. His expectations, much like the expectations of the elites in Europe and our own country today, began with our “remarkable tendency to organize themselves in pursuit of shared goals.” “Americans of all ages constantly unite,” Tocqueville wrote in his book “Democracy in America.” “Not only do they have commercial and industrial associations, in which all take part, but they also have a thousand other kinds: religious, moral, grave, futile, very general and very particular, immense and very small.” When Tocqueville visited the U.S., we were in an era of rapid change, not unlike today. Some were moving westward, others toward cities, others away from cities, all while building transportation systems, such as canals and roadways, to achieve that moment. The industrial revolution was at the center of all that cultural and political change. Our postal system was also speeding up. Our political parties were raucous, populist and changing with the times. And we were influenced by those changed by how we formed communities. Sound familiar? We are also in a moment of rapid change, building high-tech superhighways, this time through artificial intelligence and the internet. We are also moving inward this time, with some rediscovering the middle of our country while others try to remake our cities. And the technological revolution of AI is having as much of a cultural and political impact as the Industrial Revolution. What Freddy, Shaun, and all the other World Cup soccer fans are experiencing is a modern-day Tocqueville moment. Freddy and Shaun likely had no idea what to expect when arriving here. If they read the European press or The Atlantic, it was probably pretty dark. Tocqueville himself wrote that he expected to find a raw, chaotic society, which is pretty much a condensed version of the criticisms you read about America and Americans from elite news organizations today. What Tocqueville found instead were Americans who were constantly developing ways and/or tools for creating associations, both large and small—associations with wildly different interests, from small local sports and community or religious groups with little internal order to vast national networks with structures. Think the Rotary Club, NAACP, the Elks, Lions Clubs, Future Farmers of America, the Grange, and 4-H. Tocqueville was writing for a French audience. But his argument about America and Americans—and our drive to bring each other into shared experiences with both our neighbors and strangers—holds true. We are not sure to whom Freddy, Shaun, or any of the other European soccer fans were aiming to showcase their experiences. What we do know is that it has opened their world to our world, teaching both Europeans and ourselves what makes America truly exceptional: our people. COPYRIGHT 2026 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.

Just a few weeks after our nation’s 250th anniversary, Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation of Homer’s 3,000-year-old epic “The Odyssey” will hit theaters. The conservative movement can learn something from Odysseus, the “man of twists and turns,” nearly three millennia after the poem was composed. As colossal as the poem’s story is—being stretched over 10 years and encompassing the entire Mediterranean—“The Odyssey” fundamentally tells the story of home. The most important lessons to be learned from it are domestic. The poem centers on Odysseus, the long-suffering king of puny Ithaca, who is trying to return home following 10 years fighting in the Trojan War. Odysseus’ journey to reclaim his throne lasts a decade. Meanwhile in Ithaca, a fatherless generation has crowded out his heir, Telemachus, and vies for the hand of his wife, Queen Penelope. In order to return to his land and defend his home against usurpers, Odysseus must contend with giants, raging winds, and the wrath of the god Poseidon. At every turn in the poem, Homer depicts a vision of home, though these often turn out to be false homes. Three of the best-known, perverted portraits of domestic life in “The Odyssey” can tell us what true homecoming means and what sort of man is worthy of it.  In one of the most atmospheric scenes of the entire poem, Odysseus weeps on the shores of Calypso’s island, where he has been captive for seven years. Calypso, a nymph, has enchanted Odysseus and kept him prisoner as her “husband” for seven years. Homer provides two images that evoke domestic life, saying (in the A.T. Murray translation) that “A great fire was burning on the hearth,” as Calypso sang sweet songs. Despite the domestic feeling of this scene, both images undermine true homecoming. The fire does not warm Odysseus’ own hearth, and the songs are not Penelope’s. Despite Calypso’s cosplay as his wife, Odysseus weeps. Absent from his own hearth, wife, son, and throne, the king cannot rule as he knows he must. This is domesticity without duty. He is a king become a slave. At another point in the epic, Odysseus recalls the story of when he and his crew come upon a cyclops. Even where monsters dwell, there were “well-watered meadows” where “vines would never fail.” Once again, the scene feigns peace and prosperity, but reality is far crueler. The one-eyed monster seizes Odysseus and his crew, for their bones are delicacies for cyclopes. It is a hilarious perversion of the hospitality that ought to be offered to strangers. The Phaeacians, Odysseus’ great ally at the end of his journey, feed the wayfarer; the Cyclops feeds on the wayfarer. In the third portrait of perverted domestic life, Poseidon forces Odysseus and his crew to the seductive home of the witch Circe. After a toilsome journey, Circe’s facade of welcome draws in the crew. All but Odysseus are so swayed by the prospect of comfort that they let their guard down when offered wine, and Circe swiftly uses her magic to turn them into swine. Even Odysseus falls eventually and stays with his men a full year “feasting on abundant flesh and sweet wine.” Homer depicts clearly what happens when home-bound men willingly forget their way. They give up their defenses against evil. They glut themselves on expedient things. Ultimately, they become pigs. After a year, Odysseus and his men finally recall their duty and confront the witch. But because they have been so long spellbound in her house, passage requires a unique retribution: Odysseus is forced to descend to the underworld and confront characters from his past before he is allowed to leave the island. In the end, he makes the journey and leaves Hades unscathed, ready for more adventure. The conservative movement in America has seen versions of each of these stories. The Biden years were Calypso’s island. While trapped there, conservatives in government were told constantly by the administration that progressivism was the true homeland. Politically, conservatives were largely blocked from the exercise of power. Progressives are cyclopes, seeing with one eye and devouring American families with anti-human policies. Thankfully, in 2024, the cyclopes were blinded, and conservatives escaped out of the darkness. In recent months, though, conservatives themselves have been to blame, like Odysseus’ crew, who were turned into pigs in their complacency. We are resting easy in the comfort of power. Failure to pass the SAVE America Act constitutes a dereliction of duty comparable to Odysseus’ year in Circe’s hall. But if we are the heroes of our own story—as we should be—we can push through the long, winding journey home. There is hope for the conservative movement, though it has drunk some bad wine and answered the call of certain sirens. The widespread interest in Nolan’s adaptation of the ancient epic speaks to the same underlying need as Telemachus’ zeal for his father’s return. Younger Americans, and Gen Z in particular, have seen enough of the “new way.” Young people are beginning to see through the “suitors” of American culture who try to usurp rightful rule and thought. Progressive leaders have brought more harm than good, and they certainly did not inspire unity. Like Telemachus, those who are tired of a void in the American way of life have gone in search of older things. Conservatives hold the answer: a hearth warming one’s own home and a song for one’s own children. Odysseus made it home. If we chart the right course, conservatives will too, under a rosy-fingered dawn. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.

Summer is a time for relaxation. Most people have more time away from work and more time with their families to travel or simply relax. Since most children are off from school over the summer, many families take this time to go on vacation and plan warm weather events. While all this is fun, it also serves a deeper purpose. Intentionally investing time and energy into one’s family relationships is critical for the health of the world. Many Christians recognize that the family is the heart of culture. On a visit to Australia in 1986, Pope John Paul II said, “As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.” If you want to make your family the priority this summer, there are three simple ways to do so. First, families should learn to “waste time” with one another. Ordinary, routine moments of family life are opportunities to be truly present to one’s spouse and children. This practice of presence teaches how to love more deeply. These moments cultivate intimacy and love, allowing family relationships to flourish. If more families recognized the value of these moments, the tide of the culture could begin to shift, encouraging parents and children towards virtue. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains this with characteristic clarity: “The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society. The family is the community in which, from childhood, one can learn moral values, begin to honor God, and make good use of freedom. Family life is an initiation into life in society.” A family that does not spend intentional time together raises children who will be unprepared for social life in the world. It will also make it harder for them to form their own healthy families as adults. When parents learn to be more present to their children, kids intuitively understand that nothing is more important than giving and receiving love. Second, families can become closer by eating meals together.  Studies reveal that children who regularly eat with their families are better able to deal with stress than those who do so only rarely.  One systematic review of previous studies showed that “Greater family meal frequency protects children/adolescents against a poorer diet, obesity, risk behaviours, poorer mental health and wellbeing, and poorer academic outcomes.” For those who already eat together as a family, though, one of the biggest temptations is to allow technology—particularly smartphones—to encroach on this crucial time. Multiple studies have found that the mere presence of a smartphone nearby harms social interactions. When a smartphone is on the table or even in someone’s pocket, people display less empathy and are less likely to bring up serious topics. Summer is the perfect time to break phone habits at the dinner table. Given the weather, families can put in the extra work to eat outside, making clear that everyone must leave their devices in the house. This also makes it easier to implement a firm rule that everyone keeps phones away from the dinner table. This practice can rekindle relationships and encourage intimate conversations between family members. Finally, family members can grow closer this summer by explicitly expressing gratitude for each other—and by being more honest about their own flaws. Being thankful for simple ways that family members show love to each other is a great way to spark meaningful conversations between spouses and children. When Pope Francis visited America in 2015 for the Eighth World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, he said, “In the family we first learn how to show love and respect for life … In the family we learn to ask without demanding, to say ‘thank you’ as an expression of genuine gratitude … and to ask forgiveness when we have caused harm.” Looking a child or spouse in the eyes to say thank you or sorry is a moment of vulnerability that builds intimacy. These conversations are profoundly formative for children and critical to a fulfilling marriage. Gratitude and honesty are the soil that allows seeds of intimacy to grow. So this summer, invest in spending time with your family. Because when we examine our lives and place our careers, hobbies, and desires on the table we see that really nothing is more important than the relationships of our immediate family. Let’s use the next few months to love our family intentionally; we might just begin to usher in a better world. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.

In recent elections, Republican voters have expressed their dissatisfaction with policies responding to the construction of data centers—the rapidly expanding physical infrastructure that supports the internet. At the same time, Republican governors are increasingly arguing that their party has to start listening to constituents who are upset with how they believe data centers are affecting their lives, physical environment, and costs. In the Tuesday primary in Utah, the issue loomed large. The state’s Republican Senate president, J. Stuart Adams, lost his primary to an opponent, Stephanie Hollist, who targeted him for supporting the construction of the 40,000-acre Stratos data center in Box Elder County. The data center will take up 2.5 times as much area as the New York City borough of Manhattan. Adams has been a Utah elected official for decades.  Additionally, two Box Elder County commissioners who voted to approve the project in May lost their primaries. ICYMI: It's pretty unmistakable that the Box Elder data center controversy had a hand in ousting Utah's Senate President and two county commissioners. And what happens next for Senate leadership? My colleague @JordanTracyTV with the story. pic.twitter.com/2cPCn5LzYF— Lindsay Aerts (@LindsayOnAir) June 25, 2026 The issue was also present on the federal level. Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, who has served three terms in the House, won the Republican nomination in the state’s redrawn 2nd Congressional District by a roughly 57% to 43% margin over primary challenger Karianne Lisonbee. Both candidates had to comment on the construction of the Stratos data center in Box Elder County, Utah. In a statement to Semafor, Lisonbee accused Moore of having “doubled down on his support of the data center.” Responding to the same outlet, Moore suggested his views on data centers were more nuanced than Lisonbee claimed, saying companies “need to respond to citizens’ feedback, show how they’re going to invest in natural resources, and help lower, not increase, energy prices for impacted areas.” He added, “We should empower the local areas making these decisions, not attempt to avoid tough conversations.”  Moore also fired back at Lisonbee, accusing her of “trying to distance herself from ‘the process’ when she was a strong supporter of [data center construction] during her time in the state Legislature.” DeSantis and Abbott Push Back on Data Centers In both Florida and Texas, Republican governors known for their business-friendly records have begun to call for the Republican Party to rethink its artificial intelligence policies. “I doubt Democrats will produce good policy re: AI, but Republicans have allowed them to capitalize on public concern about the power and influence of Big Tech by failing to adopt a sensible framework that will protect the public from the very real downsides of the technology,” Gov. Ron DeSantis recently wrote on X. I doubt Democrats will produce good policy re: AI, but Republicans have allowed them to capitalize on public concern about the power and influence of Big Tech by failing to adopt a sensible framework that will protect the public from the very real downsides of the technology.A… pic.twitter.com/atB9kXQC3W— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) June 8, 2026 DeSantis added, “A policy that says transhumanists in Silicon Valley should be able to do what they want is not an acceptable approach, nor is it a politically viable approach.” The governor signed legislation in May intended to ensure local governments maintain control over projects in their jurisdiction and ensure companies pay the full cost of their energy usage.  In Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has also pledged to voters to prevent data centers from consuming resources. “Data centers must bring their own power, they must use their own water, and they must reduce electricity costs for residential customers as well as small business customers. Those are bottom line expectations,” Abbott told News Nation in June. Data centers must bring their own power, they must reuse their own water, and they must reduce electricity costs for residential and small business customers. We will slash incentives and protect Texas neighborhoods. Those are bottom line expectations. pic.twitter.com/jjUEciR2pw— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 23, 2026 In June, Abbott penned a letter to the Legislature urging lawmakers to require tech companies to take care of the energy, infrastructure, and water needed to operate their data centers. Abbott additionally urged the Legislature to eliminate tax breaks and “other outdated or unnecessary incentives for data centers.”  Related PostsData Center Civil War Leaves Virginia on the Verge of a ShutdownVirginia is on the verge of its first shutdown in modern history, and it all comes down to data centers and Democratic Party infighting. Democrats control the governor’s mansion, the state Senate, and the House, yet the party can’t get on the same page. “Virginia has to have a budget by June 30,” Republican Virginia…Republicans Warned Everyone About TikTok for Years—Now They’re Going Viral on ItGOP members in Congress are joining TikTok after years of speaking out against the app and are going viral. Following in the footsteps of Democrat lawmakers who have been on the app for years, Republican lawmakers are gaining millions of views and reaching the younger generation of voters. 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