Robert Higgs: The Ratchet effect In my work, the ratchet effect describes the characteristic way in which government under modern ideological conditions grows during a perceived national emergency. The government's size, scope, and power grow abruptly as the...
governments
The Human Under the Numbers
by Kym Robinson | Dec 30, 2021 | Featured Articles
The story of Anne Frank is tragic. If not for the words that she wrote in her diary, she would be a digit of history. Her diary is relatable, and the thoughts that collected inside her being during a horrible time in history gives the reader an idea of who she was....
Vaccines, Autonomy, and Mandates: A Libertarian Analysis
by David D'Amato | Dec 30, 2021 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism
Prefatory Note Given the subject matter discussed below, I believe it prudent to state at the outset that I am not at all opposed to vaccinations themselves: indeed, I have received a COVID-19 vaccine, as well as all other normal-course vaccinations recommended for...
Salafis Throwing Bombs: How American and British Planners Partnered With Al-Qaeda Affiliated Groups At the Start of the Syrian Civil War
by William Van Wagenen | Dec 28, 2021 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy
Introduction In the mainstream view, al-Qaeda did not play a role in the Syria conflict until Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi dispatched his deputy, Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, to Syria in August 2011 to establish a wing of the group there, called...
News Roundup 12/27/21
by Kyle Anzalone | Dec 27, 2021 | News Roundup
Covid Massachusetts halts all elective procedures. [Link] The USS Milwaukee will remain in Cuba after several sailors tested positive for Covid. [Link] USAID is running out of money to distribute covid vaccinations. [Link] The US donates 1.5 million vaccine doses to...
Is Virtue Signaling Vicious?
by Laurie Calhoun | Dec 27, 2021 | Featured Articles
Virtue signaling—the practice of highlighting what one takes to be one’s own moral superiority, often by loudly denouncing the character and comportment, including the speech, of other people—has become a dominant mode of rhetoric throughout social media and network...
California Restaurants Demand More Than $100 Million In Liquor, Health Permit Refunds
by Steven Woskow | Nov 23, 2020 | Blog
California’s financially battered restaurants filed government claims Monday to recover more than $100 million in fees for liquor and health permits and tourism charges that they say were assessed even though their businesses were shuttered or only partially operating...
Thanks For Your Cooperation Citizen
by Steven Woskow | Sep 8, 2020 | Blog
Consent Factory and Off Guardian: 50 Headlines: Welcome To The "New Normal" Our erstwhile collaborators at Consent Factory have put together a wonderful collection of all the great work being done by our Beloved Governments to keep us all safe. Always remember that...
The US is Exploiting Covid-19 to Push Regime Change
by Kyle Anzalone | Apr 1, 2020 | Conflicts of Interest
On FPF #473, I discuss the US attempts to exploit coronavirus outbreaks to overthrow governments. In Venezuela, the US already has a 'maximum pressure' campaign going. The over a year-long campaign has failed to force the countries president, Maduro, from power, but...
Ten Reasons the COVID-19 Threat May Be Inflated
by Koen Swinkels | Mar 23, 2020 | Blog
COVID-19 is a very serious problem that should be taken very seriously by individuals, organizations, businesses and governments but there are ways in which the public may get an exaggerated sense of the threat: 1. In general: Once a dominant narrative is formed (in...
Year Zero 101: A Direct Republic with Donnie Gebert
by Tommy Salmons | Mar 10, 2020 | Blog, Year Zero
Donnie Gebert of the Direct Republic podcast and author of The Null Hypothesis of Politics joined Tommy for episode 101. Donnie's idea of a Direct Republic, decentralization down to the individual, was thought up within a mind trained and educated by the DOD to topple...
‘Distrust in Lebanese banks spurs bitcoin boom’
by Phil Gibson | Mar 3, 2020 | Blog
"If you're fighting for a world where bitcoin is a main currency, you're fighting for the end of all governments...We had the separation of church and state - today, bitcoin is working towards the separation of money and state.""Bitcoin is protected by mathematics,...
Good News: Belmarsh Prison To Move Assange Out Of Solitary Confinement
by Steven Woskow | Jan 24, 2020 | Blog
Keeping Julian Assange in solitary confinement is torture - he is no threat to anyone. His crime is exposing the world to the corruption and lies that governments use to hide their crimes of war and torture. Their have been many reports that his health is...
April tax Receipts Up 1.8% at $2 Trillion
by Steven Woskow | May 13, 2019 | Blog
Unfortunately, spending is up 7.6% to $2.57 trillion. The largest increase is debt service, up 13.6% from last year. This is in a low interest rate environment. The Fed is trapped in maintaining low interest rates. Danielle DiMartino: "Fed controlled rates...
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The Capitalist Competition Myth
Capitalism involves far more cooperation than competition—think of the number of mutually beneficial transactions you’ve had today compared to the number of competitions you’ve been in today - Chris Freiman, author of Why It's OK to Ignore Politics Democratic...
Blame Mexico? Blame Neocons! Blame Big Pharma! Blame the USA!
ABC News: If fentanyl is so deadly, why do drug dealers use it to lace illicit drugs? I have an alternative explanation. America has been fighting endless wars almost the entire century. Many have come home from these never-ending wars with injuries and pains. Doctors...
My Testimony Before the Maine State Senate
In support of Ld 1054, Defend the Guard legislation: Thank you all so much for the opportunity to testify before your committee today. Today is the 20th anniversary of the beginning of Iraq War II. The consensus now is that we should not have done it. Iraq was not...
These Iraq War Supporters Are Still in Congress
On March 19, 2003 the United States began its military invasion of Iraq. The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq passed Congress in October 2002, with 296 congressmen and 77 senators voting in favor of giving President George W. Bush carte blanche...
Laci Green is Wrong: Democratic Competition vs. Free Market Competition
In environments where there's a lot of competition, people tend to lie out their ass and you can apply this to any competitive situation. Take capitalism. As industrialization took full effect, the Federal Government had to interfere because there was so much false...
Empower the Workers: Decriminalize Economic Activity Between Consenting Adults
The most reliable and effective protection for most workers is provided by the existence of many employers. As we have seen, a person who has only one possible employer has little or no protection. The employers who protect a worker are those who would like to hire...
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