Do You Want Your Children to Die for Montenegro? by Jacob G. Hornberger December 11, 2015 Get used to the possibility that your son or daughter might end up dying for Montenegro because that country has just been invited to become the latest member of NATO, the Cold War organization that was brought into existence to defend Europe from America’s World War II partner and ally, the Soviet Union. Just in case you’ve never heard of ...
Would the Pentagon and CIA Permit Sanders to Be President? by Jacob G. Hornberger December 10, 2015 Most people consider Bernie Sanders’ race for the presidency to be an exercise in futility. That’s because, they say, he doesn’t have any realistic chance of defeating Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party’s nomination. But there is another reason why Sanders’ quest for the presidency might be futile. It’s unlikely that the U.S. national-security establishment would ever permit Sanders to ...
Kevin Carson versus the Straw Man by Jacob G. Hornberger December 9, 2015 A couple of days ago, Kevin Carson, who holds the position of Karl Hess Chair in Social Theory at an organization called The Center for a Stateless Society, published an attack on Richard Ebeling and me, entitled “Libertarian-splaining to the Poor.” Carson describes himself as a “left libertarian,” which Wikipedia defines as one who subscribes to “anti-authoritarian varieties ...
What If the U.S. Government Was Bombing Mexico? by Jacob G. Hornberger December 8, 2015 Imagine that after the Cold War ended, the U.S. national-security state invaded Mexico with the aim of ending the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. “Our invasion of Mexico is going to enable us to finally win the war on drugs,” the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the director of the CIA, and the head ...
FDR’s Infamy by Jacob G. Hornberger December 7, 2015 With today being December 7, it’s good to remind ourselves of the infamous actions of President Franklin Roosevelt to involve the United States in World War II. When the federal government was called into existence with the Constitution, there was a deep antipathy toward standing armies. Our American ancestors knew that European rulers had long used standing armies not only ...
From Crises Comes Leviathan by Jacob G. Hornberger December 4, 2015 Lovers of big government love crises because crises are the sure-fire way to get big government. It is during crises that many people go into a fright-filled panic, demanding that government assume extraordinary powers to keep them safe. Government officials, of course, are always willing to oblige, given their love of power over others. Then, as Robert Higgs points out ...
Trumbo Draws the Line between Conservatives and Libertarians by Jacob G. Hornberger December 3, 2015 The new movie Trumbo provides a perfect way to distinguish conservatives from libertarians. Conservatives believe that Trumbo got everything he deserved and libertarians believe that what was done to him was an absolutely horror. Dalton Trumbo was one of the most successful screenwriters in Hollywood from the 1930s on. Like many leftists of his time, he was attracted to communism, ...
Terrorism Comes with Imperialism and Interventionism by Jacob G. Hornberger December 2, 2015 BEFORE THE TERRORIST STRIKES IN PARIS * France begins air strikes against the Islamic State in Iraq. * Since then, France has reportedly bombed Iraq some 200 times. * France starts bombing the Islamic State in Syria. * According to The Atlantic, the “French military has been heavily involved in operations against Islamic militarist groups outside of the Middle East over ...
Does the Pentagon Still Want Nuclear War Against Russia? by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 2015 A wise person would wonder why the Pentagon would intentionally provoke Russia by moving NATO all the way to Russia’s borders after the Cold War ended. He would also wonder why the U.S. government failed to restrain its NATO ally Turkey from shooting down a Russian plane for flying over Turkish airspace for a few seconds. A wise person ...
Blame the Refugee Crisis and Terrorism on Empire and Intervention by Jacob G. Hornberger November 30, 2015 Whenever statist policies produce crises, libertarians are inevitably asked what the libertarian position is to resolve the crises. Two recent examples involve the refugee crisis in Europe and the terrorist crisis in Paris. “How would you libertarians deal with these two crises?” people ask us. Libertarianism, however, is not a philosophy that purports to fix the problems that arise from ...
Enslaving People to Keep Them Safe from Government-Produced Enemies by Jacob G. Hornberger November 25, 2015 Take a look at this excerpt from a New York Times article from a couple of days ago: All over France, from Toulouse in the south to Paris and beyond, the police have been breaking down doors, conducting searches without warrants, aggressively questioning residents, hauling suspects to police stations and putting others under house arrest. The extraordinary steps are now ...
Regime Change is the Root of Evil in Syria by Jacob G. Hornberger November 24, 2015 Americans have become so accustomed to regime change as part of their federal governmental structure that most everyone has become quite blasé about the topic. A good example is Syria, which has now been pushed front and center into the consciousness of the American people. Everyone is railing about those Syrian refugees but no one asks an important question: ...
