Stark Realities with Brian McGlinchey | The Libertarian Institute

Strange But True: ‘Price Gouging’ Benefits People In Disaster Areas

by Stark Realities with Brian McGlinchey | Sep 5, 2023 | Economics, Featured Articles

As millions of Americans struggle to recover from the latest hurricane, state government officials are issuing stern reminders that criminal penalties loom for anyone who engages in “price gouging.” “Price gouging” is the pejorative label applied to the charging of substantially higher prices for goods and services that are in high demand and short supply in disaster-stricken areas. Anti-price gouging laws typically apply to things like food, fuel, lodging, medicine, building materials, construction tools and other necessities. The idea of charging higher prices in the midst of a crisis goes...

World War II’s Top Military Leaders Admitted Hiroshima, Nagasaki Bombings Were Needless

by Stark Realities with Brian McGlinchey | Aug 2, 2023 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, History

The anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki present an opportunity to demolish a cornerstone myth of American history—that those twin acts of mass civilian slaughter were necessary to bring about Japan’s surrender, and spare a half-million U.S. soldiers who’d have otherwise died in a military conquest of the empire’s home islands. Those who attack this mythology are often reflexively dismissed as unpatriotic, ill-informed or both. However, the most compelling witnesses against the conventional wisdom were patriots with a unique grasp on the state of affairs in August...

Government Agents Are Routinely Trespassing, Placing Cameras on Private Property Without Warrants

by Stark Realities with Brian McGlinchey | Jul 5, 2023 | Criminal Justice, Featured Articles

For many people, a central attraction of owning and living on a multi-acre expanse of land is the opportunity for complete privacy — to include freedom from the prying eyes of government. While most Americans might understandably believe the Fourth Amendment’s protection against warrantless searches covers all their property, a little-known 1924 Supreme Court decision—Hester v United States—says otherwise. The case struck a major blow against privacy rights, and government agents of all stripes have been exploiting the ruling ever since. Those exploitations have grown increasingly brazen....

Debt-Ceiling Theater Masks True Depth of DC’s Red Ink

by Stark Realities with Brian McGlinchey | Jun 1, 2023 | Featured Articles

As the latest debt-ceiling drama winds down, Americans are varyingly exasperated, angered, anxious and maybe even a little bit entertained by the spectacle. While their emotions vary, most citizens have something in common: They don’t realize they’re being misled about the actual depth of their government’s financial disorder. Despite all the talk of the federal government hitting a congressionally-set $31.4 trillion debt limit, the truth is that DC’s actual liabilities are far higher than even that disturbing number. Estimates by the relatively few scholars and organizations who venture to...

Barack Obama, Progenitor of the Modern African Slave Trade

by Stark Realities with Brian McGlinchey | May 1, 2023 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

Barack Obama was elected president some 143 years after the abolition of slavery in the United States. As teary-eyed African-Americans watched Obama’s 2008 election night speech in Chicago’s Grant Park, none could have imagined that America’s first black president would leave his own legacy of slavery—in Africa. However, that’s exactly what he did, thanks to a combination of imperial hubris, disregard for constitutional restraints on executive war powers, and the use of false pretenses. In 2011, egged on by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a handful of other advisors, Obama ordered a...

You’re Misunderstanding What the ‘Militia’ Is

by Stark Realities with Brian McGlinchey | Apr 3, 2023 | Featured Articles

America’s latest episode of mass homicide has sparked renewed advocacy for restrictions on gun ownership. Once again, the accompanying debate has many gun control advocates claiming the Second Amendment’s reference to a “well regulated militia” narrows the amendment’s scope if not rendering it altogether moot. Before we examine those claims, it’s important to ensure readers have a proper general understanding of the Bill of Rights. Contrary to common misperception, these amendments do not bestow privileges upon American citizens. Rather, they are primarily a set of prohibitions against the...

Could a National Sales Tax Be a Viable Alternative to the Income Tax?

by Stark Realities with Brian McGlinchey | Mar 2, 2023 | Economics, Featured Articles

Sometime during this 117th U.S. Congress, the long-proposed “Fair Tax” will likely receive its first-ever floor vote in the House. A national sales tax, it would replace not only personal and corporate income taxes, but Social Security, Medicare, estate and gift taxes too. Though every tax scheme has its pitfalls and moral failings, the net impact of a switch from the income tax to a sales tax could be positive for the citizenry and the economy. While entrenched interests and the opportunity for misleading political attacks on Fair Tax proponents make its adoption in the near-term a long...

Netanyahu’s Return to Power: A Prelude to Anti-American Terrorism?

by Stark Realities with Brian McGlinchey | Jan 10, 2023 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

Benjamin Netanyahu’s return to power in Israel has ushered in a government more dominated by religious and ultra-nationalist extremists than any ruling coalition in the country’s 74-year history. While that fact has been well-reported, most Americans are oblivious to a grim implication: The new Israeli government’s extreme policies toward Palestinians and regional rivals will imperil American lives at home and abroad. Americans aren’t jeopardized by those policies per se, but rather by the U.S. government’s unconditional military, financial and diplomatic support of Israel, which are seen as...