TGIF: Socialist Confusion

TGIF: Socialist Confusion

by | Aug 8, 2025 | , , , , ,

Recent polls indicate that many people under 30 view socialism and communism favorably. (For Marx, those words were synonyms.) It seems that socialism and communism are "in." What's going on? A self-described "democratic socialist," Zohran Mamdani, won the Democratic nomination in the New York City mayoralty primary. He promises to set up city-owned nonprofit grocery stores and plans other giveaways. He favors a $30 minimum wage. He also says billionaires should not exist. Will he set up camps? Members of Congress, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also call...

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TGIF: By Right or Permission?

TGIF: By Right or Permission?

by | Aug 1, 2025 | , , , , ,

"Trump administration approves sale of CBS parent company Paramount after concessions" —NPR If the deal struck by Paramount and President Donald Trump sickens you, your intuitions and perhaps your principles are in good working order. Make no mistake about what's at the root of such things: ominipotent government. You need its permission for all kinds of things—so much for individual rights. As the NPR story states, the headline termination of The Late Show (which I've never watched) came "amid a flurry of steps taken by Paramount and Skydance Media—which has been seeking to acquire the...

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TGIF: What Is Capitalism?

TGIF: What Is Capitalism?

by | Jul 25, 2025 | , , , , , ,

So, what is capitalism? The answer will depend on who's being asked. Language, like markets, basic law, and customs, is a spontaneous order. No one plans it. Words drift in their meaning in ways that probably can’t be fully explained. Language is a tool that people use to think and communicate, so it’s adapted according to needs, changing circumstances, and even confusion. That doesn’t mean we can say nothing about words like capitalism. My views on that word have changed over the years; I once contributed to a book called Markets, Not Capitalism. The book was meant to show that the free...

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TGIF: Immigration and Free Association

TGIF: Immigration and Free Association

by | Jul 18, 2025 | , , , , ,

Immigration. Despite other headline-grabbing news, this issue persists. How could it not? Trump's masked goon squad, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), abducts peaceful people off the streets, from their workplaces, and from Home Depot parking lots, then shuttles them without due process to detention centers, including the ominously named Alligator Alcatraz, and prepares to deport them to third countries deficient, shall we say, in their devotion to individual rights. Many detainees have been unable to contact family and attorneys. Even American citizens have been swept up,...

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TGIF: Israel and Jabotinsky’s Iron Wall

TGIF: Israel and Jabotinsky’s Iron Wall

by | Jul 11, 2025 | , , , ,

Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky (1880-1940) was a key figure in the development of the Zionist movement, which led to the founding of Israel in 1948. After breaking from mainline Zionism, Jabotinsky, born in Odessa (Ukraine), established Revisionist Zionism, a more openly militant version. What is Revisionist Zionism? Even fellow Zionists saw similarities with fascism. According to Ramzy Baroud and Romana Rubeo, "Before the opportunistic alliance between Germany’s Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, and Italy’s fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, in 1936,... a degree of affinity existed between Zionist...

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TGIF: Liberty Requires Nationwide Injunctions

TGIF: Liberty Requires Nationwide Injunctions

by | Jul 4, 2025 | , , , ,

The government is always a threat. This we must never forget. In that light, I want to examine the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Trump v. CASA, the 6-3 decision that sided with the Trump administration's position that a federal district court exceeded its congressional authority when it issued a temporary nationwide, or universal, injunction against Trump's executive order redefining the post-Civil War 14th Amendment clause that affirms birthright citizenship. The Supreme Court did not rule on the legality of that executive order. Rather, it ruled that the district court's temporary...

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TGIF: The US Empire’s 72-Year War on Iran

TGIF: The US Empire’s 72-Year War on Iran

by | Jun 27, 2025 | , , , , , ,

The likely temporary Israel-Iran ceasefire notwithstanding, if you need proof of how despicable Donald Trump is, consider this: When asked last week if he would ask Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to stop bombing Iran, which had already said it would stop retaliating for Israeli attacks, Trump said, “I think it’s very hard to make that request right now. If somebody is winning, it’s a little bit harder to do that [than] if somebody’s losing. But we’re ready, willing and able, and we’ve been speaking to Iran. Israel is doing well, in terms of war, and… Iran is doing less well. It’s a little...

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