The MAGA movement has fractured recently over the contentious issues of foreign military intervention and government spending, with each faction accusing their opponents of betraying MAGA. This raises a question: What does it mean to be MAGA? Considering “MAGA” as a...
Libertarianism
Can You Privatize the Military-Industrial Complex?
by Casey Carlisle | Jul 3, 2025 | Economics, Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Libertarianism
Though it’s rare to hear someone praise the military-industrial-congressional complex, it is only the latter component that masks a praiseworthy feat. Markets—also known as “people” voluntarily exchanging—have devised the most efficient methods for producing weapons...
On Applying Rothbardian Populism
by Oscar Grau | Jul 2, 2025 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism, Politics
Just as state action is a zero-sum game, so is politics: some win and others lose. But if the term “populism” is supposed to be meaningful, populism must have some distinctive elements for it not to be confused with mere democracy. Although politics occur in different...
Democracy Cannot Lead to Self-Governance
by Jeb Smith | Jun 30, 2025 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism, Politics
Democracies end up anti-democratic because only a tiny minority of radicals (politicians, interest groups, major corporations, etc.) achieve power centralized in the capital. They work the levers of government, place their servants in power, and advertise via...
Libertarianism Requires a ‘Subjective Morality’
by Sean Dolan | Jun 25, 2025 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism
Many libertarians claim that morality is an objective, universal code that dictates right from wrong. They believe objective morality exists as a universal principle that applies regardless of personal beliefs, people's cultures, or historical context. This view...

Libertarian Lessons From Middle-earth
by Jeb Smith | Jun 17, 2025 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism
Professor J.R.R Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, has been described as an anarcho-monarchist, and he incorporated those political ideals into Middle-earth. Among them was his stance against coercion. "The story is cast in terms of a good side,...

TGIF: Magna Carta Day
by Sheldon Richman | Jun 13, 2025 | Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
I wrote this in 2015 to mark the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, or Great Charter. In light of current events—featuring a president who aspires to unchecked power, despairs of the rule of law, and has discussed suspending the right of habeas corpus—the posting of...

Coercion, Self-Governance, and Democracy
by Jeb Smith | Jun 10, 2025 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism
Originally tribes of extended families and like-minded individuals joined together to create a community. They were self-governing and consenting associations of individuals, a unified whole. The head patriarch acted as a king, the head of the community, ensuring...