José Niño | The Libertarian Institute

It’s Time to March Home

by José Niño | Jan 20, 2021 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

One becomes a hardened cynic when following U.S. foreign policy. Such pessimism is justified: looking at nearly two decades' worth of nation building abroad and a seemingly shatterproof consensus on foreign policy interventionism in DC $6 trillion and roughly seven thousand American lives later, America’s foreign policy machine appears to be chugging along just fine. The election of Joe Biden as president may represent a partisan change in terms of who will be the face of the country. In terms of substance, however, it may not amount to much. Biden has a long track record of promoting...

A Reader’s Guide to Liberalism

by José Niño | Jan 8, 2021 | Featured Articles

Has the definition of “liberal” changed over time? One of the more compelling debates in American intellectual circles concerns classical liberalism vs modern liberalism. In American parlance, the word liberal is used reflexively, often without much deep thought about its origin. It usually refers to individuals associated with the contemporary left and loosely connected to the Democratic Party. However, liberal did not always have that connotation in American politics. To understand these changes, let’s take a stroll down memory lane to learn how its meaning has evolved over time. Classical...

Why the NRA Should Seek Refuge Outside New York

by José Niño | Oct 11, 2020 | Featured Articles

The state of New York has wasted no time reminding Americans about its pathological disregard for personal freedom. Its COVID-19 lockdown policies were among the most heavy-handed responses implemented by a state government in the country. Controversies surrounding the state government’s decision to place recovering COVID patients in retirement homes, arguably a major factor behind the state’s deadly retirement home outbreak, were major black eyes for Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration. The Empire State’s overreach hasn’t been confined to COVID-19, though. New York policymakers are...

Foreign Aid Can’t Fix Bad Economics

by José Niño | May 6, 2020 | Economics, Featured Articles

Some myths in politics die hard. We are constantly reminded by the managerial classes that foreign aid is crucial to lifting the developing world out of poverty. With the magic wand of public spending, money is sent to the developing world in hopes of pushing these countries out of their economic stupor. We’ve seen this story play out domestically when politicians call for wealth transfer programs with the purported intent of “investing” in economically beleaguered sections of America. With the universalist ethos of American politics, inevitably the domestic redistributionist logic is taken...

The Crisis Has Exposed the Damage Done By Government Regulations

by José Niño | Apr 2, 2020 | Economics, Events, Featured Articles

As we watch in real-time how governments respond to the novel coronavirus pandemic, some of the most predictable forms of state overreach—from restrictions on the freedom of assembly to the suppression of regular commerce—have been rolled out. Thankfully, there is no unified world government, so there exist various examples of how certain countries are dealing with the crisis that we can closely examine and learn from. Pessimism and cynicism are generally warranted under the political climate we’re living in. However, there are some silver linings we can take away from America’s response to...

Greater Idaho Movement Is the Latest Indicator of a Shift toward Decentralization

by José Niño | Mar 11, 2020 | Economics, Featured Articles, Libertarianism

Recently disgruntled residents of rural counties in southwest Oregon have been organizing a petition to move Idaho’s border westward to form a “Greater Idaho” that could also potentially include parts of Northern California. This petition mirrors a recent proposal in Virginia in which rural countries in the state would separate and join West Virginia in protest of Virginia’s latest push for gun control. In both cases, rural residents would have the option of joining states that align more with their cultural and political values. Although not...

Foreign Aid Just Empowers Corrupt Regimes. End It.

by José Niño | Feb 13, 2020 | Economics, Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

The Senate’s vote to acquit Donald Trump on both articles of impeachment this month brought a much-needed end to the tiring impeachment saga America has been subject to in the last few months. The impeachment controversy arose when President Donald Trump initially withheld military aid from Ukraine unless President Volodymyr Zelensky provided revelatory information about political rivals such as presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings. After a whistleblower alleged that Trump may have abused power, the managerial class was off to the races to launch an...

7 out of 10 Millennials Would Vote for a Socialist Candidate

by José Niño | Nov 7, 2019 | Economics, Featured Articles, Libertarianism, Politics

According to a YouGov–Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation poll released in late October, 70 percent of millennials indicated that they are “somewhat or extremely likely to vote for a socialist candidate.” This same poll also found that 50 percent of millennials — those between 23 and 38 years of age, and 51 percent of Generation Z — those aged 16 to 22, have somewhat or very unfavorable views of capitalism. This represented an increase of 8 and 6 percent, respectively, from the previous year. In comparison, 44 percent of Generation X, 33 percent of Baby Boomers, and 33 percent of the...