Sheldon Richman | The Libertarian Institute

TGIF: Why Isn’t Antifa Marching for Apple?

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 12, 2024 | Criminal Justice, Economics, Justice, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

I was all ready to don a black mask for the Antifa demonstration when I realized that the self-styled antifascists hadn't planned a demonstration. What are they waiting for? After all, the national government has just started a new fascistic crusade. You'd expect the guardians against fascism to be out of the gate with great dispatch. But they aren't. You haven't heard about the latest fascistic crusade? It's the Justice Department's antitrust suit against Apple for "monopolizing" the smartphone market, or maybe it's the "luxury" smartphone market. The government is keeping its options open...

Israel, Zionism, Jews, and Anti-Semitism

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 7, 2024 | Blog

"In some quarters anger at Israel's brutal occupation has undoubtedly spilled over to an animus toward Jews generally. But however lamentable, it's hardly cause for wonder.... Should it really surprise us if the cruel occupation by a self-declared Jewish state engenders a generalized antipathy to Jews?... [I]f many Jews themselves repudiate any distinction between Israel and world Jewry, indeed, if they denounce such a distinction as itself anti-Semitic; if mainstream Jewish organizations lend uncritical support to every Israeli policy, however, criminal, indeed, abetting the most virulent...

TGIF: Static Analysis Clouds Immigration Debate

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 5, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles, Sheldon Richman, TGIF

Opponents of people's freedom to cross national borders to where the best jobs are, aka open borders, make a rookie error: they engage in static analysis and overlook the dynamism of social processes that freedom produces. I was recently asked on Facebook: "Are you enjoying Biden open borders?" There's the mistake right there. People who ask that question look at a bad situation, say, the mess at the southern border; imagine one policy change, namely, the removal of restrictions on movement; and stop there. It's as if that policy shift would prompt no changes in how people, including...

Why I Pick on Israel

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 4, 2024 | Blog

People close to me ask why I criticize Israel while ignoring the other bad governments in the world. (I guess they don't count the U.S. government as bad.) I have many reasons, but here's a big one: no other government (besides the U.S. government) claims to act in my name. I object to that. (For the record, years ago I declared my exit from the disparate worldwide collection of people that Israel presumptuously claims to speak for.)

The Logic of Eradicating Hamas

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 3, 2024 | Blog

Is genocide logically required by Israel's stated objective of eradicating Hamas? It looks that way. Israel demonstrably believes that to wipe out Hamas, it must use overwhelming and indiscriminate force in the Gaza Strip, killing tens of thousands, wounding and starving so many others, and destroying homes, hospitals, and infrastructure. If that is not, in effect, a massive recruitment campaign for Hamas, what would be? So what to do? Simple: wipe everyone out so the inevitably traumatized kids won't grow up radicalized and join Hamas to seek vengeance for their dead relatives and miserable...

And Another Thing

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 3, 2024 | Blog

One reason I object to Israel's behavior is that it brings anti-Semitic creeps out of the woodwork. Thanks a lot, Israel.

Is Israel Our Ally?

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 2, 2024 | Blog

While I was sleeping, did "our representatives" in the U.S. Senate ratify an alliance treaty with Israel, complete with a NATO-style Article 5, obligating us to defend Israel if attacked?

Israel Gives Cover to Anti-Semites

by Sheldon Richman | Apr 2, 2024 | Blog

Israel identifies itself as the Jewish state and claims to represent "the Jewish people" everywhere, not only Jewish Israelis. Thus Israel's atrocious treatment of the Muslim and Christian Palestinians at least tacitly encourages the anti-Semites, who are eager to point to anything they can describe as bad acts committed by "the Jewish people." The Jewish state equals the Jewish people -- that's what they've been told. (It's not true.) In other words, Israel's own definition of itself and its own treatment of the Palestinians ratify the anti-Semites' crazy ideas about the malevolence and...