Category: Liberty’s Labors Lost

Money As Politics: Musk Sacrifices a Few More Million Humans to His Profit

Elon Musk, who soiled himself for all time by defecating on the people of Ukraine last week, has decided to raise his profile in the pantheon of profiteering punks to yet another level of shame. This time, rather than waiting for a tyrannical government to actually invade a smaller, sovereign neighbor, destroy much of that neighbor’s infrastructure, and kidnap thousands of its children...

Russia’s Trump?

Six days ago, I wrote of the Russian state media’s calls for Vladimir Putin to consider the use of tactical nuclear weapons in response to NATO’s alleged nuclear threats against Russia. At that time, I wrote: In short, Russia, in desperation and about to suffer the most humiliating military defeat since the United States scurried away from the Taliban like the frightened rats...

When the State Becomes Your Banker

Here is a social media post from the White House, i.e., from the nominal leadership group of the entire free world: A “digital dollar” may seem far-fetched, but it is not beyond the realm of possibility. Today, the Biden-Harris Administration published policy objectives and a technical analysis for a potential U.S. central bank digital currency: https://t.co/VrwSs7hpNS — White House Office of Science &...

On the Death of Queen Elizabeth II

The one and only person whose existence held slightly ajar the door of legitimacy in anyone’s honest judgment of the relevance of the British monarchy in the twenty-first century has now died. Queen Elizabeth II allowed our imaginations to remain connected to the royal family’s meaningful past not only because she ascended to the throne back when that past was still somewhat alive,...

The Uniter in Utah

Mike Lee is almost certainly the closest thing to a bona fide constitutional conservative that the U.S. Senate currently has to offer. Like all men, he is flawed and will sometimes let his heart be swayed by pragmatic interests. And like all politicians, he must always be viewed with a healthy skepticism, given what any modern politician must do to win elections and...

Threats to Democracy, Threats to Freedom

There is much talk these days of “threats to democracy.” But the greatest threat to democracy today may be the incessant talk of threats to democracy. For a threat is something to fear, and when men are driven by fear, they will sacrifice nobler aspirations in a heartbeat in the name of removing the source of their fear. Beware those who beat the...

Into the Shallows, aka World Update

The U.S. Congress has passed, and President Biden has signed into law, The Inflation Reduction Act. This law will bring sweeping changes to the United States economy and society, and, indirectly, to the world. None of those changes will be in any way related to inflation per se, let alone to reducing it. So why, the innocent child might reasonably ask, is it...

“We don’t have any indication of a motive at this time”

Welcome to yet another wonderful, reality-evading episode of Politically Correct Agenda Land. On today’s episode, Salman Rushdie, an author who has been under Islamic fatwa issued by the Iranian mullahs for over thirty years, who lived for a decade under constant police protection, and whose various associates around the world have been attacked, sometimes fatally, for their connections with him, is stabbed to...

Libertarianism vs. Classical Liberalism for Beginners

A women’s basketball player, Brittney Griner, is convicted of a drug crime in Russia, and handed nearly the maximum sentence under Russian law. The U.S. federal government, at every level, expresses outrage and anger over the apparent political motives behind the trial and sentencing. Whatever the merits of that accusation, and whatever level of illegitimacy one may find in either the Russian regime...

Democracy Without Reservations

The other day, I had a written exchange with a Korean student about the problems of modern education, and specifically the narrow agenda-driven nature of modern teaching content and methods. Along the way, as one example of the problem, my student noted the gulf between political theory as presented at school and the lessons in political philosophy that she and I had discussed...