Constitution Day 2021: It’s Time to Make America Free Again by John W. Whitehead September 15, 2021 “That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn't even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn't even an enemy you could put your finger on.” — Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale The Constitution of the United States represents the classic solution to ...
Political Rhetoric Hides the Reality of Peaceful Production vs. Plunder by Richard M. Ebeling September 13, 2021 The very nature of modern democratic politics is that it is seen as a means and a mechanism to transfer income to some in society at others’ expense. Virtually every politician runs for office on a campaign platform that promises to extend concrete and specific benefits to various selected groups through the taxing or regulating powers of government. This means ...
The Rise of the Security-Industrial Complex from 9/11 to COVID-19 by John W. Whitehead September 10, 2021 “I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people in — and the West in general — into an unbearable hell and a choking life.”—Osama bin Laden (October 2001), as reported by CNN What a strange and harrowing road we’ve walked since September 11, 2001, littered with ...
Jerome Powell’s Quest for Economic Stability Is Destabilizing by Richard M. Ebeling September 8, 2021 When the chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank speaks the financial markets listen, and this was no different with Jerome Powell’s virtual address to the annual meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. What they got is what Harry Truman complained about when hearing from his economic advisors: “On the one hand, ‘this,’ but on the other hand, ...
Conservatives Give Bush and Trump a Free Pass on Afghanistan by Laurence M. Vance September 1, 2021 The debacle in Afghanistan is all the fault of President Joe Biden and his predecessor, Barack Obama, says James Jay Carafano at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Carafano is “a leading expert in national security and foreign policy challenges” and is Heritage’s “vice president for foreign and defense policy studies, E. W. Richardson fellow, and ...
The Conflicts of Visions That Shaped America by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2021 There have been two conflicting visions in American history that have shaped our nation. As conditions in the United States continue to worsen, it is important that Americans engage in serious soul-searching to determine which vision should be embraced going forward. The original vision The first vision was that which characterized the American people from the founding of the United States ...
Why Government Cover-Ups Succeed by James Bovard September 1, 2021 “It’s not necessary to censor the news, it’s sufficient to delay the news until it no longer matters,” Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly said. The same standard helps explain why Washington politicians and federal agencies usually get away with covering up their lies and abuses. Many people assume that unless the government actively censors, people will learn what the government has done. ...
Puritanism: Then and Now by Laurence M. Vance September 1, 2021 Journalist, editor, and literary and social critic Henry Louis “H. L.” Mencken (1880–1956) adopted the moniker “libertarian” years before it became popular to do so. In a letter of 1920, he wrote: “I am an extreme libertarian, and believe in absolute free speech.” In a book-review column of 1922, he wrote, “I am, in brief, a libertarian of the ...
The American Spirit of Liberty versus Modern Tribal Racism by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 2021 In a number of recent speeches, President Joe Biden has been repeating that America is founded not on an ethnicity or a religion or a language but on an “idea.” He has emphasized that the nature of this idea is that human beings do not derive their rights from the government but instead cede some of those rights for ...
There’s No Such Thing as “Market Fundamentalism,” Part 2 by George Leef September 1, 2021 Part 1 | Part 2 If “market fundamentalism” were a serious phenomenon, you would think the authors could give some clear examples of it — as they do for fundamentalist opponents of economic freedom. (There are a great many people who automatically dismiss arguments in favor of economic liberty, calling them “right-wing” propaganda motivated by sheer greed; ...
Bring All the Troops Home by John W. Whitehead August 31, 2021 “Let us resolve that never again will we send the precious young blood of this country to die trying to prop up a corrupt military dictatorship abroad. This is also the time to turn away from excessive preoccupation overseas to the rebuilding of our own nation. America must be restored to a proper role in the world. But we ...
Made in France: Biden’s Fiscal and Regulatory Socialism by Richard M. Ebeling August 30, 2021 Imagine that you are standing at a crossroads with a gate sign in front of each road telling the cost of the respective routes. But one says that if you choose to go this particular way, the expense is 50 percent less than the other, or, maybe, is even free; that is, no toll will be charged. Welcome to ...