Unfortunately, no single news source tells the whole truth, so I have been forced to use articles from libertarian and leftist sources to get to the truth. I urge readers to go through the articles, read them for yourselves and come to your own conclusions. I am presenting stuff you can’t get in mainstream news here at my blog. To open links to another page, R-click on the link to open.
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Libertarian News
- Panic Buying, Medical Rationing Underscore Importance of Free MarketsThe recent coronavirus panic has provided a stark reminder about the scarcity of economic goods. From people hoarding and stockpiling common household items like toilet paper and hand sanitizer to the downright morbid reports of doctors in Italy and Spain having to pick and choose who should receive medical care, the issue of resource scarcity […]
- TGIF: Libertarianism in EmergenciesLibertarians have always acknowledged that emergencies — severe extraordinary conditions of limited duration — can justify actions that would be unacceptable under normal circumstances. This doesn’t mean that all the rights-based rules disappear, only that some measures are deemed permissible that otherwise would be beyond the pale. Danger, however, lurks in this principle, requiring eternal […]
- States Lifting Regulations to Help Business During COVID-19 Shows How Useless These Laws AreFrom the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, state and local governments responded in various ways from issuing emergency orders—citywide shutdowns to school closures and beyond—but it’s the suspension of various laws and regulations that is exposing the unnecessary regulatory web that burdens businesses. As often happens during emergencies, governors and mayors […]
- The Deep State’s Demolition of Democracy“Thank God for the Deep State,” declared former acting CIA chief John McLaughlin while appearing on a panel at the National Press Club last October. In 2018, the New York Times asserted that Trump’s use of the term “Deep State” and similar rhetoric “fanned fears that he is eroding public trust in institutions, undermining the idea of […]
- Politicians Have Used This Crisis to Remind Us They’re Mostly Wannabe DictatorsThe virus has unleashed petite tyrants to haunt their tiny jurisdictions, using the cover of crisis to arrogate powers belonging to the people. Witness Robert J. Taylor, mayor of Ostrander, Ohio (population: 643 in the 2010 census), who just declared his village to be in a “state of emergency.” Along with this declaration, the self-righteous mayor instructed […]
- Amid COVID-19 Outbreak, Arrests Plummet, Departments Close and Chaos Does NOT EnsueAs TFTP reported last week, prisons across the country are facing potential massive outbreaks inside their walls and are being forced to make the decision to release non-violent offenders to stave off catastrophe. Thousands of non-violent prisoners have been released and there has not been an uptick in criminal activity. What’s more, according to multiple reports, arrests […]
- No BailoutsThat adroit member of the British Parliament Enoch Powell once said that “the supreme function of statesmanship is to provide against preventable evils.” This duty, incumbent upon politicians endowed with wisdom, is made difficult because “by the very order of things such evils are not demonstrable until they have occurred.” Well, the market crash has […]
- Australian War CriminalsAustralia has a proud military history, even before it was a federation in 1901 it had sent men abroad in service of Empire. Still a new nation while the British fought bitterly against the Boers in South Africa, the Australian military identity was slowly forged in incidents of undeniable heroism and controversy. Famously, the Australian […]
- Like Freedom? Then You Won’t Like the FREEDOM ActLast Monday, a bipartisan group of Senators and a coalition including libertarian and progressive activists thwarted a scheme to ram through the Senate legislation renewing three provisions of the USA FREEDOM Act (previously known as the USA PATRIOT Act). The bill had already been rushed through the House of Representatives, and most expected it to […]
- The Fed’s Massive Injection of ‘Liquidity’ Also Benefits Uncle SamThere’s a lot to be said regarding the Fed’s surprise announcements—including its Sunday surprise of $700 billion in renewed QE and the complete elimination of all reserve requirements for banks—but here let me just focus on one element: the tendency for Fed officials and all the pundits to treat injections of “liquidity” as if they don’t count as much […]
- Now, We Get Local. Now The World Gets Real“Reality is that which when we stop believing in it doesn’t go away.” – Philip K. Dick In March of 2003, we broke ground on the first real thing I ever built, the house I currently live in. Then I understood that there was only one way this economic and political system ended, badly. And […]
- The Unseen Consequences of the Coronavirus ResponseWhile sicknesses and death mount from the coronavirus pandemic, the responses by all levels of government have been overwhelming. School closings, business closings, cancellations of sporting events and concerts, “stay in place” orders, hysterical panic spread by the corporate press, and massive government “stimulus” and bailout plans have all been justified as a means to […]
- Why We Need Free Markets To Fight PandemicsThe natural response in the face of a pandemic like the one we are experiencing today with COVID-19 is to take immediate and direct action to curb the crisis. We are told we need to have extensive quarantines, citywide lockdowns, and shelter-in-place orders. We supposedly need to limit the number of goods people can buy so […]
- No! ‘We’ Are Not the GovernmentDuring a speech in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1902, Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed, “The government is us; we are the government, you and I.” Most people believe this. And it’s a bald-faced lie. Fernandina Beach, Florida, shut down all of its public beaches this evening in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Anybody caught on the beach […]
- This Martial Law Will End, and End BadlyFirst, let’s get the three principles for the post-COVID-19 world out there: If you think COVID-19 is fake, or not really scary, you don’t know science and are an ignorant person. If you post cavalierly about frolicking socially with your friends, you have no empathy for the elderly and other vulnerable populations and are a […]
- To Kill Markets Is the Worst Possible PlanMomentous events usually leave strong memories on those who have lived through them, and those memories often become passed on to later generations in the form of historical interpretations of why and what had happened in the past. This has certainly been so in the cases of the Great Depression, the Second World War, the […]
- TGIF: Despite Appearances, ‘Price Gouging’ Helps People in Distress[This article originally appeared on the American Institute for Economic Research website on September 12, 2017.] Critics of the free economy often complain that the market fails to “behave” as economic theory predicts. Hence the voluminous literature on “market failure” (which sparked a substantial public choice literature on “government failure” and the need for comparative institutional analysis). […]
- Turning the Handle on the Door They Can’t BreachSpace monkeys, art exhibits, Operation Latte Thunder – that was the plan anyways. Nameless members of Project Mayhem set out to destroy a piece of art and a coffee bar. It was all part of Tyler Durden’s plot to begin, as Caitlin Johnstone aptly puts it, “disintegrating patterns.” Things were going as planned until a […]
- Police Stole $225K in Cash and Coins, and the Court Said “Okay”Arlington, Va.—Seven years ago, police officers in Fresno, California, executed search warrants on the homes and business of Micah Jessop and Brittan Ashjian, who owned a business operating and servicing ATMs. Police were investigating a report of illegal gambling. Although neither was ever charged with a crime, police seized nearly $275,000 in rare coins the […]
- Family Who Says They Do Not Have COVID-19 Under ‘Forced Quarantine’ by PoliceNelson County, KY — A family has been forcibly quarantined in their home this week with police officers keeping them under 24-hour surveillance because a man in the home is accused of having the COVID-19 virus. According to multiple news reports and even Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, this man fled the hospital after being diagnosed […]
- The Money-Printing Gods Have FailedHooray! Finally even the robo-machines and day traders are puking, not BTFDing. Today’s 3,000 Dow Point Dump says even they have had enough of the craven dolts who occupy the Eccles Building. You do not need a PhD in economics—or even a night school survey course—to see that COVID-19 is temporary supply side shock which […]
- The Mystery Deepens Over The Pre-Dawn Police Killing Of Duncan LempFive days after shooting 21-year-old Duncan Lemp in a predawn raid, the Montgomery County, Maryland, Police Department announced Tuesday that the killing was immaculate. Under pressure by media criticism, the police department issued a detailed statement this afternoon purportedly exonerating itself. But that statement—the third revision of their official account of the fatal raid—is contradicted by multiple eyewitnesses. […]
- Direct Payments From Government is Not the Way to Stimulate the EconomyThe latest in the Federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic is President Trump’s announcement of a “stimulus package” estimated between $850 billion to $1 trillion. The plan reportedly includes $50 to $100 billion bailouts to the airline industry, $200 to $300 billion in small business assistance, and at least half a trillion in “direct […]
- SCARE!It has arrived, a pandemic. It swept the world, we watched, laughed and ignored it. Memes were made, media excitedly reported and millions speculated. It was fun to tinker inside of our minds what we would do should the zombie hoards arrive. We had seen the movies, but more honestly we had witnessed it on […]
- Could the Coronavirus Be Fatal for the EU?Since the EU’s debt crisis over Greece in 2009 and the subsequent problems with Italy, Spain, and Portugal, eurozone banks have dedicated their balance sheets to financing government deficits. At a cost to the commercial banks’ own cash flows, negative deposit rates at the ECB have ensured that no material losses have arisen from holding short-term government […]
- Corona Crow is a Feast Fit for KingsSympathy and hope for “fear and loathing” in these uncertain days If only the chemically constricted pupils of Hunter S. Thompson could see us now. I wonder if he’d look up from his gourmet-plated cocaine and through the smokescreen of cigarettes and imperceptible acid inputs to tell us to keep our fingers out of our […]
- Think Deficits Are Bad Now? You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ YetThe Trump administration has been operating with a crisis-like fiscal policy for nearly four years. Now it looks like America’s hurtling toward a genuine economic crisis. What’s next? The U.S. appears to be heading for economic lockdown as the impact of the coronavirus grows. Ever the Keynesian, President Trump has promised fiscal stimulus to offset […]
- Did Maryland Police Shoot And Kill A Sleeping Man?The constitution is dead” was the last tweet ever sent by 21-year-old Duncan Socrates Lemp. On Thursday morning at 4:30 a.m., a Montgomery County SWAT team killed Lemp during a violent attack on his family’s home in the affluent Washington suburb of Potomac, Maryland. Why did the SWAT team attack the home as Lemp was sleeping? The initial county […]
- Populism for PeaceA populist pro-peace movement could end the empire without even trying. The US foreign policy establishment has inflicted unspeakable horrors on the world. And it has done a remarkable job of rationalizing these horrors or — even more effectively — directing the American public’s attention away from them. Foreign policy horrors are simply not an […]
- Can the Government Restrict Travel to Protect Public Health?The issue of whether government in America can quarantine persons against their will, ostensibly for their own health and that of others with whom they may come in contact, requires a dual analysis — one of the powers of the federal government and the other of the powers of the states. For constitutional analysis purposes, […]
- Greater Idaho Movement Is the Latest Indicator of a Shift toward DecentralizationRecently disgruntled residents of rural counties in southwest Oregon have been organizing a petition to move Idaho’s border westward to form a “Greater Idaho” that could also potentially include parts of Northern California. This petition mirrors a recent proposal in Virginia in which rural countries in the state would separate and join West Virginia in protest of Virginia’s latest push for gun […]
- Why ‘Price Gouging’ Actually Helps During a CrisisAs the coronavirus panic heightens, the price of items like hand sanitizer and medical face masks – to the extent they are still available – are skyrocketing. CBS News reported last week that “Online, sales of virus protection products have skyrocketed, up 817% in the last two months. Two large bottles of Purell hand sanitizer […]
- A Hero Returns HomeThe following is based on a series of conversations I have recently had with Australian police officers that are also combat veterans of the war in Afghanistan. He enlisted soon after the 2001 attacks on the United States. He felt a sense of duty to get into the fight, though it was an attack on […]
- US Marines Arrive on Yemen’s Island of Socotra to Back UAE: US installs Patriot missiles on UAE-occupied islandIt’s not clear what US intentions are, but a group of US Marines arrived at the Yemeni island of Socotra over the weekend, meeting with the occupying United Arab Emirates forces, and installing Patriot missile systems there. The US hasn’t announced why they are back on Socotra, an island strategically located near the mouth of the […]
- The Fed Panicked, and Its Rate Cut Is Making the Economy WorseThe Federal Reserve’s monumental mistake of cutting rates this past week can only be understood in the context of the rising God complex among central planners: an overwhelming combination of ignorance and arrogance. Less than a week ago, several members of the Federal Reserve board reiterated—rightly so—that cutting rates would not have a significant impact in […]
- The Reality of the Wuhan Novel CoronavirusExponential functions. Understand this, and you’ll grasp the reality of the Wuhan Novel Coronavirus from China. I know math sucks, but if you can get this, you’ll lift the fog on just how bad this is. With the Novel Coronavirus (called SARS-CoV-2), some speculate that the number of people infected by it can double in […]
- TGIF: Democracy Can’t Fix SocialismHowever you feel about democracy, it can’t fix what’s wrong with socialism. In theory, modern representative democracy — unlike ancient Greek direct democracy — means that people vote for so-called representatives to fill various executive and legislative government offices. Those officials then enact and enforce rules that people are expected to obey under threat of […]
- 250th Anniversary of the Boston MassacreYou can still see the spot. If you take the Freedom Trail tour in Boston, a uniformed park ranger will let you stand right on the spot where five Americans were killed by British soldiers on the night of March 5, 1770. This bloody encounter came to be known as “The Boston Massacre.” That fateful […]
- Hey, Jay, Enough Of Your Stinkin’ Easy Money!It doesn’t get any more pathetic than this. The Fed cuts the absurdly low money market rate by another 50 basis points at 10AM and before noon the Donald is banging the podium for more. So if you ever needed a final warning to get out of the casino, today’s back-to-back eruption of financial insanity […]
- Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Which Hamilton Are You Talking About?We often hear people referred to as “Hamiltonians.” But that term always makes me wonder, which Hamilton do you mean? I recently had the opportunity to speak to a class at the West Virginia University School of Law. The subject was the constitutionality of federal marijuana prohibition. As I told the class, this is an […]
- End the FedIn response to the potential economic downturn in the economy arising from the spread of the Coronavirus, the Federal Reserve dropped the federal funds rate by half a point — to a range of 1% to 1.25%. Ironically, after the Fed’s announcement, the stock market dropped 786 points or 2.9%. The Fed’s aim is to […]
- We’re All Intelligentsia NowAt the dawn of the nineteenth century, the Kingdom of Prussia was soundly defeated in multiple territorial battles with Napoleon’s French Empire. Under Napoleon, France’s revolutionary army had integrated new logistical methods into their military strategies. In particular, the French had employed Levée en masse, which was a policy of mass conscription that bolstered national […]
- The New Cold War With Russia Is All America’s FaultThe following is the text of a speech Scott gave to the King County, Washington Libertarian Party, February 29, 2020. According to Rep. Jason Crow, Russian President “Vladimir Putin wakes up every morning and goes to bed every night trying to figure out how to destroy American democracy.” But that’s not true. There’s no real […]
- The Fed Slashes Rates as Powell Declares Economy ‘Strong’The Federal Reserve moved to an enact an emergency interest rate cut after officials saw the coronavirus having a material impact on the economic outlook, Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday. Powell held a news conference following the central bank’s decision to cut overnight interest rates by half a percentage point. He said the Fed “saw […]
- An Unspoken Fear of the CoronavirusYou’d think people would be used to it by now. Every couple of years the world is thrust into hysteria by the latest virus that is threatening to wipe out a significant portion of the population. Whether it’s SARS, Dengue, Ebola, Swine Flu or the Coronavirus, fear becomes the default emotion while States and their […]
- The Quincy Institute: Off to a Decent StartNon-interventionists are not used to having a seat at the power table. Lacking any amount of institutional influence, believers in the anti-war cause are used to spending careers tinkering at the margins of the conversation, living from hand to mouth off of minimal fundraising. No one ever got rich towing the line for “Big Peace.” […]
- Envoys Gather in Doha for Signing of Afghanistan Peace Deal: Growing optimism about peace process after week of violence reductionRepresentatives from dozens of countries, foreign ministers or generally envoys, have flocked to the Qatar city of Doha this weekend, for the planned Saturday signing of the Afghanistan peace deal between the US and the Taliban. After a successful week of reduction of violence, there is growing optimism about this deal. President Trump confirmed on Friday that the […]
- The “F” WordThere’s a four letter word beginning with ‘f’ that’s on a lot of people’s lips these days. I’m talking about “free.” Free just might be the most powerful word in the English language. It drastically alters people’s behaviors and can short-circuit mental reasoning like few other words can. I can vividly remember many years ago […]
- Russian Airstrikes Kill at Least 34 Turkish Soldiers in Syria: Turkey’s bid to reclaim Idlib observation post sparks airstrikesWeeks of threats by Turkish President Erdogan to retake Syria’s Idlib Province by force went extremely poorly on Thursday, when Turkish forces moved into an observation post south of Idlib City, and were immediately hammered by airstrikes from both Russia and Syria. At least 34 Turkish soldiers were reported killed in this strike, a major number of casualties. […]
- The NSA’s Encroaching OversightThe NSA’s spy program failed miserably, but some spooks want to expand it The US National Security Agency spent $100 million over three years on illegally collecting millions of American phone records – all for two reports with unique counterterrorism intelligence, according to a declassified report from an NSA oversight body. So naturally, intelligence officials […]
- Data Don’t Speak for ThemselvesCheck out this graph, data for which were drawn from the USDA and CDC: With a correlation coefficient of about -0.94, these data indicate that for the decade 2000-2009 there was a strong inverse relationship between per capita consumption of beef and the number of suicides by handgun. That is, this correlation seems to imply […]
- TGIF: Might You Be a Libertarian?If you’re like most people, you don’t go around killing or assaulting others. You probably would never think of torturing, raping, kidnapping, or confining your fellow men and women. I doubt if you’d think that stealing or vandalizing their belongings would be a good thing. And I’m sure you’d never dream of stopping people from […]
- Physics and the Economic Calculation ProblemThroughout the nineteenth century, economic socialism was given its intellectual foundations by the Utopian Socialists such as Charles Fourier and Robert Owen, and by the ‘Scientific’ Socialists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Austrian economics was only founded in 1873, with the publication of Carl Menger’s Principles of Economics. So while the greatest economic theory was […]
- No, Taxing Corporations Is Not How You ‘Stand Up’ For WorkersNo, taxing corporations is not how you ‘stand up’ for workers It’s hypocritical to claim to support workers but also want to heavily tax corporations. Leading Democratic presidential candidates like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren will constantly tell us they are for protecting and standing up for workers, while at the same time insist that […]
- It’s the Bureaucracy, Genius: How Bureaucracy Has Lowered Productivity and IncomeThe supposed brightest minds, educated in the supposed best universities, can’t figure out why American productivity has languished in this era of technological innovation, resulting in income growth being lower than it would otherwise be. Well, my mediocre mind came up with the reason 29 years ago and wrote about it in my book and […]
- Federal Confiscation Reflects Mission Creep and the Expanding Police StateIn 2019, the Transportation Security Administration seized $181,000 in cash from an employee of a Tampa trucking company while he was going through a TSA checkpoint for a flight from Tampa to Cleveland. According to the employee and his employer, the worker was taking the cash to Cleveland to buy second-hand trucks for his company. The company […]
- The WTO Is Both Irrelevant and UnnecessaryThe World Trade Organization (WTO) is in a state of crisis. Despite grandiose dreams of a global trade organization that would enforce global bureaucrats’ broad vision for multilateral trade agreements, the world looks more and more like it neither wants nor needs an organization like the WTO. CNBC reports this week that the WTO is in […]
- U.S. Foreign-Policy Perpetual PerfidyThe Washington establishment was aghast in October when Donald Trump appeared to approve a Turkish invasion of northern Syria. The United States was seen as abandoning the Kurds, some of whom had assisted the United States in the fight against ISIS and other terrorist groups. But the indignation over the latest U.S. policy shift in […]
- Book Review | As We Go Marching: A Biting Indictment to the Coming of Domestic Fascism in America – John FlynnIn modern America, the terms “fascism” and “fascist” has come to take on a vague meaning to describe anyone whom one considers abhorrent or disagreeable, and any technical understanding of the terms appears now to almost exclusively be held by scholars in the fields of history, political philosophy, and economics. Not only has these terms […]
- U.S. Foreign-Policy Perpetual PerfidyThe Washington establishment was aghast in October when Donald Trump appeared to approve a Turkish invasion of northern Syria. The United States was seen as abandoning the Kurds, some of whom had assisted the United States in the fight against ISIS and other terrorist groups. But the indignation over the latest U.S. policy shift in […]
- Trump’s Betrayal of Julian AssangeOne thing we’ve learned from the Trump Presidency is that the “deep state” is not just some crazy conspiracy theory. For the past three years we’ve seen that deep state launch plot after plot to overturn the election. It all started with former CIA director John Brennan’s phony “Intelligence Assessment” of Russian involvement in the […]
- Beyond the FrontiersThe darkness was permanent, even during the daylight hours it was grim. Smoke, fire, drones, death all blocked the sun. The smiles were brave but behind them lay hungry mouths and empty stomachs. Parents watched their children with a distance that only a loving helplessness knew. They could hold them, kiss them, wipe away the […]
- When It Comes to Raw Power, Few Have More of It Than Central BankersA common retort to the claim that in voluntary exchange both parties expect to become better off (or they wouldn’t do it) is that exchanges are seldom, if ever, a matter of horizontal, equal exchange of values. Instead, any such interaction between people is ultimately a matter of their exercising power over one another. The […]
- Libertarians Have to Cope With the Real WorldImagine you’re starving to death in a desert and you happened across a man who has a loaf of bread. He takes pity on you and offers you a slice. But you refuse it and go on your way because he won’t give you the whole loaf. That would be pretty dumb, wouldn’t it? But […]
- TGIF: The Nonintervention PrincipleAnyone old enough to think about “America’s” role in the world ought to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. For example, one ought to be able to argue firmly against U.S. intervention in other countries without feeling obliged to downplay or deny the real crimes that the tyrant du jour […]
- Taliban: No Peace Deal If US Troops Stay in AfghanistanDeputy leader says withdrawal is main thing the Taliban wants With a potential US-Taliban peace deal in Afghanistan potentially at hand, Taliban Deputy Leader Sirajuddin Haqqani wrote an op-ed in the New York Times clarifying exactly what the Taliban hopes to get out of the deal, what is expected and what is their red line. […]
- Trump’s Budget: More Warfare, Slightly Less WelfareListening to the howls from Democrats and the applause from Republicans, one would think President Trump’s proposed fiscal year 2021 budget is a radical assault on the welfare state. The truth is that the budget contains some minor spending cuts, most of which are not even real cuts. Instead they are reductions in the “projected […]
- Another Massive Budget Deficit to Start 2020The Trump administration posted another massive budget deficit to start out calendar-year 2020. According to the latest data released by the U.S. Treasury Department, Uncle Sam spent $32.6 billion more than it took in last month. That compares with an $8.7 billion surplus in January 2019. Analysts had projected an $11.5 billion shortfall in January. That […]
- Church Support for War Created Social Justice Rage
- How the Fed Rules and Inflates[From chapter 23 of The Case Against the Fed.] Having examined the nature of fractional reserve and of central banking, and having seen how the questionable blessings of Central Banking were fastened upon America, it is time to see precisely how the Fed, as presently constituted, carries out its systemic inflation and its control of […]
- FDA Expands Ecstasy Access to Veterans with PTSDIn 2006, Johnathan Lubecky was deployed to Iraq. While fighting for his country, Johnathan faced constant enemy strikes, one of which resulted in a traumatic brain injury. Exposures to the horrors of war resulted in Johnathan developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Tragically, many soldiers share similar experiences. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs estimates between […]
- Taliban: Afghanistan Peace Deal Terms FinalizedTaliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen reported on Monday that the US and Taliban have finalized the language of the Afghanistan peace deal. The US has not confirmed this yet, but had indicated in recent days that such a deal was imminent. Afghan CEO Abdullah Abdullah confirmed the deal is finalized, saying that his understanding is that the signature […]
- ‘I Was Just Following Orders’“I was just following orders” is the mantra of everyone who has found themselves on the wrong side of history – who is called into account for their actions as an order taker. How is it possible that everyone from corrupt mayors, to murderous tyrants have been able to get so many people to obey […]
- Short-sighted state governments rack up $1 Trillion in liabilitiesAs if the national debt and federal entitlement liabilities weren’t enough. Now we get word that state governments have racked up more than a trillion dollars in unfunded healthcare benefits for state government workers. That’s trillion – with a ‘T’. In a report released earlier this month, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) revealed the […]
- The Establishment Feels the BernWith the rise of Bernie Sanders in the polls, the establishment is worried. The prospect of a two-way race between Trump and Sanders in the general election has the powers-that-be out in full force. The problem is that they don’t want to make it look too obvious with their opposition to Bernie. Many people, particularly […]
- My Convict Road Gang SummerI may have been a rube, but I knew enough not to startle the gargantuan glowering prison guard with that double-barreled shotgun propped on his beer belly. As a sixteen-year-old toiling in the hot sun in 1973 alongside convicts on a road gang, I understood that the summer help was not exempt from the laws […]
- Socialism in EducationIt would be virtually impossible to find a better example of socialism here in the United States than the public schooling systems that exist in every U.S. state. Ironically, it is this socialist system that is primarily responsible for the widespread belief among non-libertarians that “the United States has never been a socialist country,” as New […]
- TGIF: Anti-BDS Laws Violate Our FreedomAmericans’ free-speech and other rights are being violated by state laws aimed at stifling the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) Movement against Israel’s illegal rule of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, both conquered over half a century ago. Twenty-eight states have enacted anti-BDS laws or executive orders that prohibit state agencies and state-financed […]
- Senate Passes Iran War Powers ResolutionIn a vote of 55-45, the Senate passed the Iran War Powers Resolution on Thursday afternoon, setting out opposition to any unauthorized war with Iran, and instructing the president not to deploy troops for such a war. Voting was heavily along party lines, with Democrats and some antiwar Republicans managing to pass the resolution in […]
- Foreign Aid Just Empowers Corrupt Regimes. End It.The Senate’s vote to acquit Donald Trump on both articles of impeachment this month brought a much-needed end to the tiring impeachment saga America has been subject to in the last few months. The impeachment controversy arose when President Donald Trump initially withheld military aid from Ukraine unless President Volodymyr Zelensky provided revelatory information about political rivals such as […]
- Small Countries Are Better: They’re Often Richer and Safer Than Big CountriesIn the wake of the Brexit vote, Scottish nationalists have renewed their calls for a new referendum on Scottish independence. But many remain unconvinced, and many claim Scotland is “too small” to be an independent country. Others claim that Scotland is too poor, since Scotland’s GDP per capita is only 90 percent that of England. But by no […]
- Socialism Always FailsThe Nation, which enthusiastically has supported every totalitarian communist regime that has existed in the past century (and that includes Pol Pot’s Cambodia and North Korea) is now firmly riding the Bernie Sanders bandwagon. This article, entitled “Why American Socialism Failed—and How It Could Prevail Today,” unwittingly gives away the mentality of American socialists which […]
- Meds or a Cage: A Choice Nobody Should Have to MakeIt blows my mind that some states still haven’t legalized medical marijuana. Actually, what really blows my mind that otherwise rational people believe that they have the right to lock people in a cage for consuming a plant. Maybe they aren’t so rational. I mean, these people are literally saying, “I don’t approve of this […]
- China’s Economic Schemes Hurt the Chinese Most of AllIn his State of the Union Address—February 4, 2020—President Trump outlined his reasons for punishing nations that manipulate their economies in order to achieve some internal policy goal, such as China. The president claimed that such manipulation was unfair and harmful to its trading partners. His main concern is that by manipulating its economy China “steals” […]
- Special Inspector General: Thousands Killed in Failed Afghan ReconstructionWarns Congress was given incomplete picture of the cost While it is well documented how poorly the Afghan War has gone, and how little has actually been built during reconstruction, the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) warns Congress was given an incomplete picture of the cost. That’s because Congress was told about […]
- Support Grows for West Virginia Bill to Block Unconstitutional National Guard DeploymentsCHARLESTON, W. Va. (Feb. 10, 2020) – There was political drama in West Virginia last week as the sponsor of a bill that would prohibit unconstitutional foreign combat deployments of the state’s national guard troops narrowly failed in a parliamentary move to get it discharged from committee. Even so, support for the legislation is growing. […]
- Compulsory Education – The Bane of Learning and FreedomApproximately 50-million students, bound by state compulsory attendance laws, are trapped in what is essentially a prison of their bodies and minds. Most Americans never question school compulsory attendance laws itself but instead focus on what occurs inside the classroom. Public schools, which can also be called government schools, are notorious for a wide array […]
- Democrats Ignore Trump’s Real ViolationsThis week the latest Democratic Party attempt to remove President Trump from office – impeachment over Trump allegedly holding up an arms deal to Ukraine – flopped. Just like “Russiagate” and the Mueller investigation, and a number of other attempts to overturn the 2016 election. We’ve had three years of accusations and investigations with untold […]
- Book Review | Capitalism in America: An Economic History of the United States – Alan Greenspan & Adrian WooldridgeGiven Alan Greenspan’s notorious reputation among libertarians as a Randian free-marketeer who became corrupted during his time in the Federal Reserve and ended up being largely responsible for the easy money policy that contributed to the Great Recession, I was curious as to how he would characterize particular events in the economic history of the […]
- Ukraine Officials Say US Holding Up Arms SaleTrump withholds approval for sales, Ukraine wants a refund Ukrainian officials are clearly looking to flex their muscles in the wake of being the foreign policy centerpiece of the Trump impeachment, accusing the US of holding up another $30 million worth of standard arms sales for an unknown reason. This sale is distinct from the issue […]
- The Louisville Metro Police Department Child Sex ScandalCivil libertarians and police corruption watchdogs have much to celebrate these days. The fact that most people are walking around with high definition video cameras in their pockets has done much to shine a light on what these groups have been talking about for decades; that the “occupation” of law enforcement in the United States […]
- In A True Free Market, It’s Hard To Be RichOne interesting feature of libertarian theory is its ability to offer a critique of corporate capitalism from the perspective of laissez faire economics. The political economics of societies with large corporations are troublesome, and if you read left-wing literature you’re sure to encounter an endless stream of analysis discussing the problems with large and powerful […]
- Politicians Still Misunderstand High Insulin PricesIn 2015, the Centers for Disease Control ranked diabetes seventh among the leading causes of death in the United States. If current trends continue, skyrocketing death rates and other serious consequences of poorly managed diabetes will continue. Managing diabetes is challenging, often requiring strict dieting, regular exercise, and taking a variety of medications. For an increasing number of diabetics, insulin injections […]
- The Red Flag Flying Over the Second AmendmentThe Second Amendment is the provision in the Bill of Rights that seems to scare people the most. Why? The Second Amendment lays down the groundwork for the right to keep and bear arms. Specifically, it asserts that the right of the people to keep and bear arms is the only thing that can preserve a regulated […]
- Ice and FireThe relationship between conservatism and libertarianism is a tenuous one. However, such was not always the case. Fellow travelers of both groups were united in opposing Roosevelt’s New Deal. The work of the late economist Murray N. Rothbard (1926–1995) on the “Old Right” is indispensable here. After World War II, the political right was generally […]
- The State Is a Predator. It Can’t Be Used to Achieve Libertarian EndsTyler Cowen, who is said to be “known as one of the libertarian world’s deepest thinkers,” recently wrote a blog post entitled “What Libertarianism Has Become and Will Become — State Capacity Libertarianism.” There, Cowen asserts that libertarianism “is now pretty much hollowed out,” because it has not been able to address an idiosyncratic list […]
- Sabra and ShatilaOriginally published at “The Massacre” in The Libertarian Forum, October 1982. All other news, all other concerns, fade into insignificance beside the enormous horror of the massacre in Beirut. All humanity is outraged at the wanton slaughter of hundreds of men (mainly elderly), women, and children in the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila. […]
- Is Anarcho-Capitalism A Contradiction? Is it possible for a stateless society to adequately protect property rights? Any Rothbardian anarcho-capitalist has no doubt been confronted with the assertion that a state is necessary to enforce the property rights so vital to a market-based, capitalist system. Is this true? Defining the State Before proceeding any further, its imperative to establish what […]
- Metrics vs People in Economic AnalysisMetrics are created to establish quantifiable ways to determine certain trends, be they positive, negative, or neutral. As far as the metrics appropriately signal what they’re intended to represent, they may be quite useful to a certain extent, but unless one is conscious of their limitations, they can be “cheated” and accordingly become misleading indicators. […]
- Following Federal Lawsuit, Richland, Wa. Drops Unconstitutional Street-Fees LawFollowing a federal lawsuit brought by the Institute for Justice, the City of Richland has ended its practice of unconstitutionally forcing homeowners to upgrade city streets as a condition of obtaining a building permit. As a result of that change, Linda Cameron is free to renovate her Richland home without first paying upwards of $60,000 […]
Being Libertarian
- The Coronavirus: A Refutation of Libertarianism? – Misconceptions"The Transportation Security Administration recently began allowing small bottles of hand sanitizer on flights. Either they are willing to put national security at risk to help stop the spread of the virus, or they realized banning hand sanitizer didn’t make much sense to begin with," writes Nathan Kreider in this edition of Misconceptions. The post The Coronavirus: A Refutation of Libertarianism? – Misconceptions appeared first on Being Libertarian.
- US and China Soft War Games – Opting Out"This is not to say that there aren’t highly disturbing things that have gone on in China. But it’s certainly not the case that the United States was sitting there bothering nobody until China messed up," writes James Smith in this edition of Opting Out. The post US and China Soft War Games – Opting Out appeared first on Being Libertarian.
- 3 Reasons Why Joe Biden Is A Terrible Choice (and Why Trump Isn’t Worse)I don’t like Joe Biden. I don’t believe there are that many candidates for President of the United States who compare with his utter lack of conscience or ethics. The common retort for a historical lack of ethics is that there were presidential candidates, and presidents themselves, who openly engaged in slave-trading. With that, I’ll […] The post 3 Reasons Why Joe Biden Is A Terrible Choice (and Why Trump Isn’t Worse) appeared first on Being Libertarian.
- The Free Market: The Medicine that South Korea Used To Contain the CoronavirusSocialists and liberals may read this article and think that this is a victory for socialist healthcare, but not so fast! The post The Free Market: The Medicine that South Korea Used To Contain the Coronavirus appeared first on Being Libertarian.
- Price Controls on Hand Sanitizer Are Not Good Under Any, Much Less Crisis, Circumstances"I personally went to five different pharmacies, including a Wal-Mart, and they all stated that hand sanitizer hasn’t been available in their inventory in the past week. In this case, governmental manipulation of the prices of hand sanitizer has not benefited the masses since there is a lack of availability of these products," writes guest author Baruti Libre. The post Price Controls on Hand Sanitizer Are Not Good Under Any, Much Less Crisis, Circumstances appeared first on Being Libertarian.
- How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Got Rich Because of Coronavirus"Every toilet paper and hand sanitizer shelf in the country is empty, and I’m sitting on a figurative gold mine of those items, so I think it’s safe to say I’m now a billionaire. Sure, most of my newly discovered wealth exists solely on paper, literally in this instance, but so does all monetary wealth, literally in those instances as well," writes guest author Chris Johnson. The post How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Got Rich Because of Coronavirus appeared first on Being Libertarian.
- This is the Great Libertarian Moment: Are You Ready?"When the smoke clears, it is my desire that Libertarians will campaign on these ideas and be the voice of reason in a world gone mad. To gain that level of trust, though, we have to start now," writes guest author Matt “DiGi” DiGiallonardo. The post This is the Great Libertarian Moment: Are You Ready? appeared first on Being Libertarian.
- The Importance of Pricing During the Coronavirus Outbreak – Misconceptions"Prices provide valuable information and influence how people act. When prices are arbitrarily set by law (via anti-price gouging laws) instead of allowed to fluctuate naturally, that information is lost, and the incentives change to do more harm than good," writes Nathan Kreider in this edition of Misconceptions. The post The Importance of Pricing During the Coronavirus Outbreak – Misconceptions appeared first on Being Libertarian.
- How Ignorant Are We About China? – Opting Out"I wonder whether these peddlers of wild sensationalist speculation are aware that Chairman Mao died in 1976, preceding modest free market and civil rights reforms; that comprehensive state ownership and the breadlines and mass graves that come with it are well in the past, and the quality of life for Chinese has been increasing exponentially, or they just think China is still in permanent 19th-century poverty lead by Emperor Palpatine," writes James Smith in this edition of Opting Out. The post How Ignorant Are We About China? – Opting Out appeared first on Being Libertarian.
- COVID-19: What is the Libertarian Reaction? – Freedom Philosophy"Against the ineptitudes of self-congratulating politicians, this virus will ravage our civilization. Against the determination of hard-working, decent, and ordinary people, this virus will be quickly forgotten," writes Brandon Kirby in this edition of Freedom Philosophy. The post COVID-19: What is the Libertarian Reaction? – Freedom Philosophy appeared first on Being Libertarian.
Antiwar.com Blog
- Putin’s Nationwide Address on the Coronavirus EpidemicAs is his custom, this afternoon Vladimir Putin delivered a well-constructed speech to the nation in which, after expressing the nation’s gratitude to its medical cadres and other front-line personnel dealing with the coming epidemic, he spoke next about the issue that everyone knew was at the forefront of his concerns, the 22 April referendum … Continue reading "Putin’s Nationwide Address on the Coronavirus Epidemic" The post Putin’s Nationwide Address on the Coronavirus Epidemic appeared first on Antiwar.com Blog.
- The Ghoulish Opposition to Sanctions Relief for IranOriginally appeared at The American Conservative. The Wall Street Journal predictably rejects sanctions relief for Iran, but it is worth noting that they have to tell a lot of lies to make their argument: Easing sanctions would shore up the regime’s shaky position without providing relief to the Iranian people. Tehran has money for medicine … Continue reading "The Ghoulish Opposition to Sanctions Relief for Iran" The post The Ghoulish Opposition to Sanctions Relief for Iran appeared first on Antiwar.com Blog.
- Bring Our Troops Home Now! (video)Dan McKnight, of BringOurTroopsHome.us explains that we have to stop fighting endless wars. They are promoting bills before state legislatures around the country to stop deployments of national guard troops to these unconstitutional wars. BringOurTroopsHome.US is dedicated to ending the war in Afghanistan, removing our military forces from the Middle East, and insisting the Constitution … Continue reading "Bring Our Troops Home Now! (video)" The post Bring Our Troops Home Now! (video) appeared first on Antiwar.com Blog.
- National Commission Recommends Extending Draft Registration to WomenThis morning the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service (NCMNPS) released its final report, recommending that Congress amend the Military Selective Service Act to require that young women, as well as young men, register for the draft when they reach 18 years of age, and inform the Selective Service System each time they … Continue reading "National Commission Recommends Extending Draft Registration to Women" The post National Commission Recommends Extending Draft Registration to Women appeared first on Antiwar.com Blog.
- Five Years of the US-Backed War on YemenOriginally appeared at The American Conservative. This week marks the fifth anniversary of the start of the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen. The war has not ended, and the humanitarian crisis created by the war has only grown worse over time. I have to apologize to my readers and to the people of Yemen, … Continue reading "Five Years of the US-Backed War on Yemen" The post Five Years of the US-Backed War on Yemen appeared first on Antiwar.com Blog.
- More Tributes to Jon Basil UtleyIf you haven’t read my tribute to my long-time great friend Jon Utley, please do. Jon was not only a close and dear friend, but he was a dedicated fighter for peace and one of the earliest supporters of Antiwar.com. American Conservative editor Kelley Vlahos just published a wonderful article on Jon and his life … Continue reading "More Tributes to Jon Basil Utley" The post More Tributes to Jon Basil Utley appeared first on Antiwar.com Blog.
- Major Announcement Due This Week on the Military DraftThis week the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service (NCMNPS) plans to release its final report including recommendations to Congress on whether Selective Service registration should be ended or extended to young women as well as young men. Whatever the NCMNPS recommends, the release of its report is unlikely to get much attention … Continue reading "Major Announcement Due This Week on the Military Draft" The post Major Announcement Due This Week on the Military Draft appeared first on Antiwar.com Blog.
- Jon Basil Utley, RIP (A great freedom-fighter and a wonderful friend, I will miss him so much)My good friend Jon Basil Utley died on Friday. Jon had been fighting lymphoma for a few years. I believe he was 87. He was one of the sweetest men I ever met. For the last several years, he served as Publisher of The American Conservative magazine and website. Last year, he wrote a brief … Continue reading "Jon Basil Utley, RIP (A great freedom-fighter and a wonderful friend, I will miss him so much)" The post Jon Basil Utley, RIP (A great freedom-fighter and a wonderful friend, I will miss him so much) appeared first on Antiwar.com Blog.
- Scott Horton Interviews William Arkin on the Military’s Top Secret Coronavirus PlansScott interviews William Arkin about his recent Newsweek article discussing the the government’s various contingency plans—both public and secret—to keep a functioning, constitutional government alive during a national crisis. He is not so concerned about the introduction of martial law as usually conceived, which he considers unlikely, but worries about something called devolving succession, a … Continue reading "Scott Horton Interviews William Arkin on the Military’s Top Secret Coronavirus Plans" The post Scott Horton Interviews William Arkin on the Military’s Top Secret Coronavirus Plans appeared first on Antiwar.com Blog.
- End the Economic Wars To Save LivesOriginally appeared at The American Conservative. Barbara Slavin comments on the dire situation in Iran that has been made worse by U.S. economic warfare: Iranian animosity toward the US is understandable, given the Trump administration’s decision to quit the 2015 Iran nuclear deal despite Tehran being in compliance with it and to impose crushing sanctions. … Continue reading "End the Economic Wars To Save Lives" The post End the Economic Wars To Save Lives appeared first on Antiwar.com Blog.
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