The Origins of America’s Warfare State by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 2013 Given that most Americans living today were born and raised under a massive military establishment, the CIA, and the NSA, a large number of Americans very likely believe that the United States has always had this type of government. Not so, as Michael Swanson shows in a new book, The War State. Swanson points out that America’s warfare state didn’t ...
One Hundred Years of the Federal Reserve by Sheldon Richman December 1, 2013 Two days before Christmas 1913, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act, creating America’s latest and current central bank, the Federal Reserve System. It’s a sobering thought that in the 100 years since the Fed’s creation, the dollar has lost 95 percent of its value. Had the Fed never been created, America would be dotted with Nickel Stores ...
A Supreme Rebuff for the USDA’s Ruinous Raisin Regime by James Bovard December 1, 2013 The Supreme Court in June finally opened the door for farmers to escape from one of the most dictatorial bureaucratic regimes in the federal government. But it remains to be seen whether farmers will secure freedom and justice or be dragged into another endless array of court battles and appeals. The latest squabble has its origins in the New Deal. ...
Roger Williams: The Separation of Conscience and State by Wendy McElroy December 1, 2013 There was a whole country in America ... to be set on fire by the rapid motion of a windmill in the head of one particular man ... one Mr. Roger Williams. — Cotton Mather, New England Puritan minister Roger Williams (c. 1603–1683), founder of Rhode Island, was a key figure in forging the distinctive American character. The American was ...
“Trust Us” by John Glaser December 1, 2013 On June 7 Barack Obama made his first public statements about the NSA surveillance programs leaked by the whistleblower Edward Snowden. After justifying the programs as subject to congressional and judicial oversight, he insisted he did not want “to suggest that, you know, you just say ‘trust me, we’re doing the right thing, we know who the bad guys ...
The Killing Years by Matthew Harwood December 1, 2013 The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth by Mark Mazzetti (Penguin Press 2013), 400 pages. Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield by Jeremy Scahill (Nation Books 2013), 680 pages. The young man reached across the table and pushed the timer’s red button. Looking up ...
The Purpose of the Welfare State by Alexander William Salter November 27, 2013 Already I may have gotten myself into trouble with my title. Strictly speaking, it is misleading to discuss social processes as having a purpose. For example, many people assert that the purpose of a market economy is to allocate resources to their highest-valued uses. That is not correct. A market economy is the constantly evolving trade network that comprises ...
The Libertarian Angle: Afghanistan and Iran by Future of Freedom Foundation November 26, 2013 Jacob Hornberger and Sheldon Richman on recent events in Afghanistan and Iran. The Libertarian Angle airs weekly.
Iran: It’s Not about Nuclear Weapons by Sheldon Richman November 26, 2013 If you want to understand the U.S.-Iran controversy, know this: It is not about nuclear weapons. You’re thinking: Of course it’s about nuclear weapons. Everyone says so. Well, not everyone does. But it isn’t a numbers game. As William O. Beeman points out in the Huffington Post, There is a strange irony in President ...
The National-Security State’s Assassination of John F. Kennedy by Jacob G. Hornberger November 22, 2013 For 50 years defenders of the Warren Report have claimed that JFK conspiracy theorists simply cannot accept that a little man killed a great man. Really? Let’s see now. John Lennon was a great man. Oh sure, he was monitored and spied on by the U.S. national-security state but that was only because national-security state officials were convinced that anyone who ...
TGIF: Property and Force: A Reply to Matt Bruenig by Sheldon Richman November 22, 2013 Last week’s TGIF, “One Moral Standard for All,” drew a curious response from Matt Bruenig, a contributor to the Demos blog, Policy Shop. In reading his article, “Libertarians Are Huge Fans of Initiating Force,” one should bear in mind that the aim of my article was not to defend the libertarian philosophy, but to show ...
JFK-Related Articles Published by The Future of Freedom Foundation by Future of Freedom Foundation November 20, 2013 The National-Security State’s Assassination of John F. Kennedy by Jacob G. Hornberger (upcoming) (2013) JFK’s War With the National Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated by Douglas Horne (2013) Was Oswald a CIA Operative or Not? by Jacob G. Hornberger (2013) More Evidence of Cover-Up in the JFK Assassination by Jacob G. Hornberger (2013) Why Won't the CIA Release ...