Putin’s Regulatory Scheme Looks a Lot Like Ours by Jacob G. Hornberger August 5, 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin is providing the American people, and specifically American businessmen, with a valuable lesson about a government-regulated economy and the benefit that regulation provides to those in power. Keep in mind, first of all, that America’s modern-day regulated economy is no different, in principle, than Russia’s regulated economy. The difference is one of degree. The Russian government ...
The Commies Are Coming! (Again) by Jacob G. Hornberger August 4, 2014 After the U.S. government’s post-Cold War encirclement of Russia, through NATO, succeeded in achieving a foreign-policy crisis in Ukraine, I repeatedly have said that it was entirely predictable that Russia would seize Crimea rather than permit it to come under U.S. control. I argued: Imagine if Russia decided to set up military bases and missiles on Cuba. We all know ...
Why Not Simply Abolish the CIA? by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 2014 If anyone thinks that CIA Director John Brennan is going to be severely punished for lying about the CIA’s hacking into the computers of members of Congress who were investigating torture inflicted on people by the CIA, think again. It’s not going to happen. Everyone knows that lying is the official policy of the CIA and a well-established, accepted ...
What Limited Government? by Jacob G. Hornberger July 31, 2014 One of the common misconceptions about the United States is that the federal government is a “limited government,” unlike tyrannical regimes, which are characterized as “omnipotent government” or “unlimited government.” Limited government means that the government’s powers are limited in nature and scope. Omnipotent or unlimited government means that the government can do whatever it wants. Limited government certainly was ...
The State’s Greatest Success Story by Jacob G. Hornberger July 30, 2014 Amidst the endless series of disasters, debacles and crises produced by America’s welfare-warfare state, there is one huge success story that should not go unnoticed: the state’s educational system, specifically the extent to which the state has succeeded in indoctrinating so many Americans into believing they actually live in a free society. What could be better than a society of ...
The Cold War Never Ended for the U.S. National-Security State by Jacob G. Hornberger July 29, 2014 While the Cold War ended in 1989 for most of the world, not so for the U.S. national-security state, the apparatus that was grafted onto our governmental system after World War II to fight the Cold War against the Soviet Union, which had been America’s partner and ally during the war. What better proof of that phenomenon than the continuation ...
The Drug War Is Finished by Jacob G. Hornberger July 28, 2014 The drug war is finished. Kaput. It’s now just a matter of time when the federal government calls an end to this evil, immoral, destructive, and racist government program. Yesterday, the New York Times became the latest addition to those calling for an end to the drug war, with an editorial entitled “Repeal Prohibition, Again.” That was followed by ...
Drug-War Nonsense from a U.S. Commander by Jacob G. Hornberger July 25, 2014 Immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Pentagon got a bit freaked out. People were talking about a “peace dividend,” by which they meant that Americans now had the opportunity to significantly reduce military spending now that the 45-year-old Cold War had ended. In a bit of desperation, the Pentagon proceeded to explain why the enormous and ever-growing ...
The Practicality of Libertarianism by Jacob G. Hornberger July 24, 2014 People sometimes accuse libertarians of being impractical. That befuddles me because libertarianism is the only practical philosophy there is. Why is that? Because libertarianism works. The only philosophies don’t. Consider immigration. People say: “You libertarians are so impractical with your call for open borders.” Yet, what could be more practical than a policy that brings about peace, prosperity, and harmony? Look at ...
The Perpetual Crises of the Welfare-Warfare State by Jacob G. Hornberger July 23, 2014 It’s fascinating to see people get all bent out of shape over the latest immigration crisis. I mean, what planet have they been living on? It’s as though they’re shocked — just shocked — that another immigration crisis would befall our nation. And then they go into extreme fits of anger, anxiety, angst, and depression over the crisis. I don’t ...
The Libertarian Solution to Campaign-Finance Corruption by Jacob G. Hornberger July 22, 2014 A recent article in the New York Times goes a long way in explaining the reason for big money in federal elections. While the article detailed fundraising woes by longtime New York congressman Charlie Rangel, it indirectly explained what libertarians have long been saying what really needs to be done to address big-money corruption in congressional and presidential ...
Libertarianism and the Child Immigrant Crisis by Jacob G. Hornberger July 21, 2014 Last week I received an interesting email from an irate woman who said: “Well you have your open border now. It remains to be seen how it will work out.” She was obviously referring to the child immigrant crisis in which tens of thousands of immigrant children are illegally crossing into the United States, where they are being arrested by ...
