Language, like the old common law and other customs, is a decentralized, undesigned, spontaneous institution. It serves humanity well. Nothing is perfect, of course, but no alternative—if one were conceivable—could hold a candle to it. One of the downsides is that...
Featured Articles
Kamala Harris Isn’t Listening to U.S. Intelligence on Iran
by Ted Snider | Oct 10, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Politics
Who is “America’s greatest adversary?” That is the question 60 Minutes asked Vice President Kamala Harris. “I think there’s an obvious one in mind, which is Iran,” was her answer. She gave two reasons for her verdict: "Iran has American blood on their hands" and "what...
We Must Reject the Failed Hawkish Consensus on Iran
by Daniel Larison | Oct 10, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy
No matter who wins the presidential election next month, American policy towards Iran seems likely to remain extremely hostile and confrontational. Both campaigns seem determined to out-hawk each other. The Iran policy debate in Washington, such as it is, is focused...
Government by Sortition
by Joseph Solis-Mullen | Oct 10, 2024 | Featured Articles, Politics
From Plato to Acton, Thomas Jefferson to Bertrand Russell, it was regarded as a truism to many great thinkers that those who desire power are the least to be trusted with it. As such, it is unsurprising that from the first experiments in representative government,...
Is Our Own Government Trying to Eliminate Appalachia?
by John Weeks | Oct 9, 2024 | Featured Articles, Politics
On Thursday, September 26 at 11:10 p.m., category 4 Hurricane Helene made landfall at Keaton Beach, Florida, unleashing deadly flooding throughout Florida’s Gulf Coast, Georgia, the Carolinas, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. People are trapped in remote areas with...
What I’ve Learned Covering Ten Depraved Presidential Elections
by Jim Bovard | Oct 9, 2024 | Featured Articles, Politics
Presidential season is a time for Americans to restore their faith in democracy. How can folks not be filled with gratitude for being permitted a perfunctory choice of who will seize their paychecks and tyrannize them in the following four years? Actually, I’ve had a...
The Rich Love Inflation, And Will Never Give It Up (Willingly)
by Thomas Eddlem | Oct 8, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles
“The inflation tax, while largely ignored, hurts middle-class and low-income Americans the most,” Ron Paul wrote back in 2006, concluding that “Federal spending, deficits, and Federal Reserve mischief hurt the poor while transferring wealth to the already rich.” A...
American Neocons Get Their Iran War as Congress Sleeps
by Ron Paul | Oct 8, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy
Over the weekend, the Commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), General Michael Kurilla, arrived in Israel to “coordinate” with the Israeli military and plan a military strike against Iran. Think about that for a moment: one of the highest-ranking officers in...