I’ve long criticized our current U.S. justice system—on all levels—as becoming much more about political justice than blind justice. The bizarre trial and conviction of former President Donald Trump last week on 34 felonies only reinforces my concerns. The New York...
Politics
Democracy and Free Stuff
by Sheldon Richman | Jun 4, 2024 | Blog, Economics, Justice, Politics
Democracy: the matching up of people who want free stuff with politicians who promise free stuff. Problem: free stuff as they all imagine it does not exist. However, it does exist in the market, as explained by Frédéric Bastiat in Economic Harmonies, chapter 8,...
TGIF: Government Undermines Civilization
by Sheldon Richman | May 31, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
The good, great, and prosperous society depends on ever-widening trust among strangers. It's not blind trust -- ways to hedge against cheaters abound -- but trust is vital. It is as vital as respect for private property and privacy. Like the system of private...
TGIF: The Economic Is Personal
by Sheldon Richman | May 24, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
Contrary to accepted doctrine, we have no grounds for regarding so-called economic liberties as less important or less worthy of protection than so-called personal, or civil, liberties. That's because we have no essential grounds for distinguishing so-called economic...
This Is the State
by Sheldon Richman | May 22, 2024 | Blog, Economics, Justice, Politics
Biden’s Sham Snickers Salvation Shtick
by Jim Bovard | May 20, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles, Politics
In 1896, Democratic Party presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan made a famous pro-inflation speech, proclaiming "you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold" (and stable prices). In 2024, President Joe Biden is campaigning for re-election by denouncing...
Goodbye to Pete McCloskey, an Antiwar Hero
by Connor Freeman | May 20, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, History, Politics
From Richard Nixon to the Israel lobby, the late Republican Congressman Paul Norton “Pete” McCloskey Jr. challenged the most powerful elements of the ruling class on the American people’s behalf. On September 29, 1927, McCloskey was born in San Bernardino, California....
TGIF: The Nonsense of Statist Political Economy
by Sheldon Richman | May 17, 2024 | Economics, Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism, Politics, Sheldon Richman, TGIF
In the video "How Capitalism Makes You Less Free," self-described Marxist Grace Blakeley, author of Vulture Capitalism: Corporate Crimes, Backdoor Bailouts and the Death of Freedom, boldly asserts that all societies must have some kind of economic planning. That's...