John Weeks | The Libertarian Institute

Libertarianism and ICE

by John Weeks | Jan 27, 2026 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism

Editor's note: The quote from Sheldon Richman has been updated to better reflect his views. On January 7, Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an employee of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during deportation operations in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Immediately, millions of Americans defaulted to their ideological heuristics to interpret Good’s death. Libertarian Institute Director Scott Horton criticized this dynamic. He said in the aftermath: “Look, the objective fact is that if you lean left, then the ICE cop murdered the lady, and if you lean right, then she had it...

Contours of The Global Imperial Architecture

by John Weeks and Connor Freeman | Oct 4, 2025 | Blog

Antiwar.com recently published an article jointly written by Institute Director Scott Horton and this author (Weeks). The piece, “Strategic Treason: The Empire Fetes Man Who Killed US Troops,” discussed Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s trip to New York City, which took place last week. Al-Sharaa once went by the war name “Abu Mohammad al-Jolani.” He fought for Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) during Iraq War 2. The man personally killed American troops. Yet Washington supported Jolani when he took his Jihad to Syria and helped lead a protracted dirty war to topple Bashar al-Assad’s government. Now...

The Global Censorship Complex and the Local Voice of Liberty with John Weeks

by John Weeks | May 23, 2025 | Blog

The Global Censorship Complex and the Local Voice of Liberty with John Weeks John Weeks (@weeksjf) examines the evolution of free speech, the nature of state power, and the rise of what he calls the "global censorship complex." Drawing from anthropology, political philosophy,… pic.twitter.com/uwi4DS41X7 — The Free State Project (@FreeStateNH) May 20, 2025

Syria and the Dark Side of the Force

by John Weeks | May 20, 2025 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

There is a charming scene in the film Clerks (1994) in which the sidekick character Randall discusses his misgivings about the film Return of the Jedi (1983) with the protagonist Dante. Randall is upset that the Rebel Alliance destroyed the Empire’s new military space station (the Death Star) while it was under construction, thereby slaughtering tens of thousands of innocent independent contractors. Return of the Jedi is the third film (and sixth episode) of the Star Wars franchise, a saga about how a republic becomes an empire and its people lose their freedom. The original Death Star was...

State Schools: Bad Then, Worse Now

by John Weeks | May 7, 2025 | Featured Articles

On April 20, President Donald Trump dropped another executive order: Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities has been received by both supporters and critics as aiming at the complete elimination of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). Now, look, if you love your children (which of course you do), then the best thing you can do is take executive control of their education. You could directly educate them. You could hire tutors. You could enroll them in a private school and supplement their acquisition of knowledge. You could join an agrarian commune...

‘Grocery Store Communism’

by John Weeks | Apr 16, 2025 | Economics, Featured Articles

Zohran Mamdani is running for Mayor of New York City to “lower the cost of living for working class New Yorkers,” according to his campaign website. He has promised to freeze the cost of rent “stabilized” apartments, put the “worst landlords” out of business, create faster and fare “free” bus service, provide “no cost” childcare, increase the city’s minimum wage to $30 per hour, and build 200,000 units of “affordable” housing. His most disruptive policy proposal, however, is to get the city into the grocery store business: “As Mayor, Zohran will create a network of city-owned grocery stores...

Israel’s Minions Smeared an American Hero

by John Weeks | Mar 27, 2025 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

American libertarians, regardless of their preferred faction, understand the state is a monster. We view the state the way Karl Marx viewed capitalism (demonic) or William Lloyd Garrison viewed slavery (cannibalistic). Sadly, American libertarians live under the most powerful state in recorded history. The social order is not aligned with our values, so we advocate where we can. Lower taxes over here, less war over there, a little more liberty around the way. Earlier this month we almost got some good news. Lt. Col. Daniel Davis (U.S. Army-retired) was almost appointed as deputy director of...

Overlord: Thomas Eddlem Unmasks The Empire

by John Weeks | Mar 6, 2025 | Blog

Thousands of scholars have taken on the central geopolitical question: Is the United States of America an empire? It’s a fierce debate that has unfolded over decades, places the moral status of our society at stake, and has four prevalent positions: 1. Libertarian Institute Director Scott Horton says yes, it is an empire and that’s evil. 2. Neoconservative policy advisor William Kristol says no way, and the U.S. government is righteous and benevolent. 3. Regime historian Niall Ferguson agrees with Scott that we’re dealing with an empire but agrees with Kristol that it’s all for...