Who we are
Welcome to Rational Policy!
My name is Mike Coté and I am the founder of this site. I’m an historian who has a Master’s degree with a specialization in European History. Given this background, and my prior experience with finance and business, I see many issues through historical and economic lenses. Rational Policy focuses on using historical explanations and analogies to further understanding of the current day. History is not always relevant to modern events or policies, but it can be used as a point of comparison and often informs our views. We write primarily about current-day politics, policies, and issues, as well as more specific historical analysis. Still, there is plenty of cultural discussion involved, including book and film reviews as well as travelogues, all focused on history.
One of the major reasons why this site was started was to push back against the unfortunate move in mainstream and internet media towards the extremes in tone and content. Far too frequently left and right are digging in their heels on issues that are largely lacking in substance when there are far more important issues facing the nation and world that require rational discussion, cogent debate, and even that hated bogeyman of the extremes, compromise. We will take a hard look at the crucial issues facing the United States and her people, as well as work to explain and shine light on critically important international policies, conflicts, and crises that far too often get short shrift in our rapid-fire cable news environment.
We always try to take a longer-term view on the issues, as highly-flawed short-term thinking tends to dominate nearly all aspects of American society. Thinking cogently about the future and the trade-offs involved in getting there is sorely lacking today, with most punditry focused myopically on the immediate needs of a political movement instead of on the durable interests of our shared nation. We come at politics, both domestic and international, from a pro-American, classically liberal, and constitutional conservative position. We believe that American power and influence abroad does far more good than harm and that the US-led world order is worth preserving and defending.
America is the greatest nation the Earth has even seen. Let’s keep it that way.
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