Jeffrey Wernick | The Libertarian Institute

Our Economic System Is Built To Enrich the 1%

by Jeffrey Wernick | Nov 29, 2022 | Economics, Featured Articles

I would like to attempt to describe our economic model since we abandoned sound money and any constraints upon our ability to print IOUs (or what most refer to as dollars without any understanding of what that really means). Before, there was mandated fungibility between dollars and gold and at a set, fixed price. If we acted irresponsibly, others would redeem dollars they held and expect us to deliver gold. Well, we decided we preferred fiscal and monetary irresponsibility. We decided it was fun to inflate and run fiscal deficits. We wanted more. Only we were unwilling to pay for what we...

Who Do We Blame?

by Jeffrey Wernick | Nov 23, 2022 | Featured Articles

This is from The Wall Street Journal last week: FTX suffered a “complete failure of corporate controls” that culminated in an “unprecedented debacle,” its new chief executive officer said Thursday. John J. Ray, who has helped oversee some of the biggest bankruptcies ever, including Enron’s, said in a filing to federal bankruptcy court that he has never seen anything as bad in 40 years of restructuring firms. ... “Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here,” Mr. Ray said in the...

Down With Content Moderation!

by Jeffrey Wernick | Nov 15, 2022 | Featured Articles

Back when I was involved with Parler, I wrote an article about FaceBook and it’s then-newly anointed Oversight Board. A more apt name might have been Tourqemada, condemning people to a digital inquisition. Free speech frauds did not condemn the concept of this board, empowered with the privileges of condemning people to a digital death penalty. Instead they argued about the composition of the board, and who would sit on it. They intuitively accepted the legitimacy of the Oversight Board itself, and made the dispute about power instead of principle. When Parler started to grow, the founder...

Build a Wall Around DC

by Jeffrey Wernick | Nov 9, 2022 | Blog

I have a suggestion for the Republicans. There is unanimous support for a wall. An impregnable wall. A wall that will not leak. Not a Maginot Line. A greater wall than the Great Wall of China. I suggest a Fortress America. Yes. A fortress. Impregnable. A wall against the increase in spending. Not one more additional dollar of spending. No loopholes. No leaks. Not an additional dollar of spending. We fix spending at today’s level. Not inflation-adjusted spending. Nominal spending. We wall the growth of government. No more growth of government. No more spending. Let’s not build a physical wall...

Liberty, Freedom, and Sovereignty Aren’t On Today’s Ballot

by Jeffrey Wernick | Nov 8, 2022 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism, Politics

Today, once again, we have the most important, crucial election in the history of mankind. The fate of the planet, solar system, galaxy, and universe depends upon it. Even God is worried, praying. Maybe it will provoke an extinction level event. I, personally, will not vote. I will not vote because what I value most is not represented on the ballot; my liberty, my freedom, my personal sovereignty. I do not question the legality of the process. I question its legitimacy. Since I deem it illegitimate and I believe in the non-aggression principle, I choose not to participate in any process I...

No Free Speech. No Privacy.

by Jeffrey Wernick | Nov 7, 2022 | Blog

Let’s keep things simple and clear. There are no free speech platforms on Apple or Google. Apple rules. Google rules. Their rules do not permit free speech. PERIOD! Additionally, Apple and Google are surveillance platforms that require “social media” apps to do surveillance. No free speech. No privacy. If you decide to borrow money and need to generate a lot of cash flow to amortize your debt, it is highly unlikely subscription income will be sufficient. Solvency requires that advertisers are appeased. Advertisers are brands. Brand management. Brand identity is crucial. That is not unique to...

Only I Decide

by Jeffrey Wernick | Nov 1, 2022 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism

This article was originally published on May 5, 2021. Jen Psaki, the White House Press Secretary when responding to questions regarding Trump’s extension of his status as suspended from Facebook, said that the Biden Administration expected more from “social media” companies with respect to misinformation and disinformation. I think people abuse language and throw out words debasing their meaning by lack of precision or engaging in propaganda. Let’s think about what it means to root out misinformation and disinformation. First, we must assume that there exists fact checkers who are omniscient...

The Meaning of Inalienable

by Jeffrey Wernick | Oct 18, 2022 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism

This article was originally published on June 17, 2021. Biden expressed the uniqueness of America, the idea of America: “You heard me say this before, again and again. I’m going to keep saying it. What’s that idea. We don’t derive our rights from the government. We possess them because we’re born. Period. And we yield them to a government.” What does yield mean? It means to relinquish possession of. I guess for Biden, the difference between America and other countries is that we are born with inalienable rights but at birth we yield these inalienable rights to the government. I guess he...