Friedrich Hayek: Austrian Economist, Philosopher, and Champion of Liberty

Friedrich Hayek: Austrian Economist, Philosopher, and Champion of Liberty

Austrian economics gets its name not from a particular connection to the country in technical terms, but rather because it was born there in the 1870s from great minds such as Carl Menger, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, and Friedrich von Wieser. One generation later, another native Austrian would pick up the mantle. Friedrich A. Hayek, the famed Austrian economist and political philosopher, was born in Vienna on May 8, 1899. His father August was a physician and professor of botany, and his mother hailed from a prominent Viennese family. Like so many young men of his generation, Hayek served during...

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If Thomas Massie Was President…

If Thomas Massie Was President…

If Thomas Massie were president, there would be no American involvement in the war in Iran. Rep. Massie (R-KY) introduced a bipartisan resolution barring “unauthorized hostilities” against Iran and said flatly that, “The ongoing war between Israel and Iran is not our war.” Massie respects the Constitution: Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 grants Congress the exclusive power to declare war. A Massie presidency would not begin hostilities at the behest of a foreign nation and then pretend the War Powers Resolution clock never started when Iran didn't turn out like Venezuela (which he also...

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Kill the Kill Switch!

Kill the Kill Switch!

Back in November 2021, Congress quietly added a clause to the sprawling “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” that would make Orwell blush. Section 24220 authorizes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to require that every new passenger car include “advanced drunk-and-impaired-driving prevention technology.” The provision is sold as a way to save lives, but alleges to do so by commanding vehicles to monitor drivers and refuse to operate when the software suspects impairment. In other words, AI will determine whether or not you can drive should you buy a new year...

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A Palantir Manifesto

A Palantir Manifesto

Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s book, The Technological Republic, is a clarion call for Silicon Valley to abandon its consumer trinkets and rush headlong into the arms of the military-industrial complex. According to Karp, America's future depends on wielding hard power through technology—arming soldiers, AI-weaponry, and mass surveillance systems—rather than on the "soft" influence demonstrated by free markets and liberty-first principles. The book claims that “the survival of the American experiment depends on the technological revitalization of the military-industrial complex” and urges the...

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Another Trump Flip Flop: From ‘Kill FISA’ to ‘Clean Renewal’

Another Trump Flip Flop: From ‘Kill FISA’ to ‘Clean Renewal’

With its April 20 deadline for congressional renewal looming, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is back in the spotlight. The provision, first adopted in 2008 as a part of the FISA Amendments Act as an update to the original 1978 Act, allows U.S. intelligence agencies to target “non-US persons located outside the United States to acquire foreign intelligence information” as a response to perceived technology gaps exposed in the years after 9/11. It achieves this by compelling American telecom companies to collect intelligence on foreign targets and turning over...

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Regime Uncertainty in Wartime America

Regime Uncertainty in Wartime America

The absolute state of America in its late-stage empire era is perfectly illustrated by the weekly, sometimes daily, cultural event of checking social media to see what unhinged post the president has left for us this time. This week’s installment, as the latest deadline issued to the Iranians for total capitulation to American and Israeli demands, reads like an open confession to international courts of war crimes. Thankfully, like a number of deadlines before, it passed without further escalation. On the contrary, Donald Trump announced yet another delay to potential attacks on Iranian...

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Two Primary Elections for the Soul of ‘America First’

Two Primary Elections for the Soul of ‘America First’

Political slogans are cheap. Governing is not. “America First” is not a bumper-sticker philosophy. It is a testable claim about priorities: How much debt will we pile up, how many wars will we drift into, and how often will elected officials treat Congress as a ceremonial prop rather than a constitutional branch. Midterm elections are where slogans go to trial. Primaries, especially, are where interests that cannot reliably win a general election try to win the nomination. They do it with money, with media saturation, and with the oldest trick in politics: framing obedience as unity. This...

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How ‘Real’ Is the Iran War?

How ‘Real’ Is the Iran War?

Over the last week, the war between Iran, Israel, and the United States has played out in a second theater that never sleeps: the timeline of X/Twitter. The feed is saturated with claims about battlefield damage, casualty numbers, “secret” losses, and the health or death of leaders. The problem is that much of the evidence people think they are judging is no longer anchored in reality. Independent researchers and reporters have documented a surge of AI-generated, mislabeled, and recycled “war footage” circulating widely on X/Twitter, including fake missile strike visuals and staged-looking...

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