https://youtu.be/Yv3bKr_Rgiw ... our very real medical crisis has been the product of massive government intervention, state and federal, throughout the century; in particular, an artificial boosting of demand coupled with an artificial restriction of supply. The result has been accelerating high prices and deterioration of patient care. And next, socialized medicine could easily bring us to the vaunted medical status of the Soviet Union: everyone has the right to free medical care, but there is, in effect, no medicine and no care. Murray N. Rothbard Making Economic Sense, p. 77 Roderick...
welfare
Is Wholefoods’ ‘Conscious Capitalism’ Effective Altruism
Wholefoods, one of the most consciously ethical companies in the world, was picketed by animal rights activists in 2003. At first, CEO John Mackey was incensed. After all, Wholefoods are the good guys! Couldn't these would-be revolutionaries take their complaints to McDonalds or Walmart? After some reflection Mackey, the libertarian author of Conscious Capitalism (2013), decided that it might not be a bad idea to sit down with the activists and hear what they had to say. Asking them, “Why did you attack us?” he received the rather touching response: “Because we thought you would listen....
Family Sues After Cop Attempts to Shoot Their Dog, Kills Their Daughter Instead
As readers of the Free Thought Project know, police killing or attempting to kill dogs is an all too common occurrence—happening so often that it is caught on video much of the time. Also, as the following tragic case our of Arlington, TX illustrates, all too often, police will attempt to kill a dog—miss the dog—and shoot and kill an innocent person instead. Last year, a Texas grand jury indicted a police officer after he was seen on video trying to kill a dog and killing an innocent woman instead. Arlington police officer Ravi Singh was charged with criminally negligent homicide for...
Like Vietnam, the War in Afghanistan Shows the Disasters of Interventionism
The end of the 20-year U.S. war on Afghanistan was predictable: no one has conquered Afghanistan, and Washington was as foolish as Moscow in the 1970s for trying. Now, U.S. troops are rushing out of the country as fast as they can, having just evacuated the symbol of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan, Bagram Air Base. While perhaps not as dramatic as the “Fall of Saigon” in 1975, where U.S. military helicopters scrambled to evacuate personnel from the roof of the U.S. Embassy, the lesson remains the same and remains unlearned: attempting to occupy, control, and remake a foreign country...
7/2/21 Mark Perry on the Pentagon’s Latest Corporate Welfare Boondoggle
Mark Perry discusses the bizarre case of the Stryker, a vehicle used by the U.S. army to transport infantry troops to the battlefield. The Stryker, Perry explains, is a deathtrap: it isn't heavily armored enough to stand up to real combat, it rolls over easily and it can't withstand IEDs or tank rounds. What's more, everyone seems to know this. And yet the Pentagon is spending nearly a billion dollars on a new contract, not to give the Stryker better armor, but to put machine guns on it. Perry describes this as putting a tourniquet on the wrong part of the body, and is emblematic of the...
52 Progressive Myths – Book Summary
https://youtu.be/jnqYbimvhLo ... in the free market of voluntary exchanges, the “strong” do no devour or crush the “weak,” contrary to common assumptions about the nature of the free-market economy. On the contrary, it is precisely on the free market where the “weak” reap the advantages of productivity because it benefits the “strong” to exchange with them. Murray N. Rothbard Ethics of Liberty, p. 36 I read the summary at the end of each chapter of, Excuse Me Professor, edited by Lawrence W. Reed - https://store.fee.org/products/excuse-me-professor LBRY / Odysee:...
How the Government Created the Healthcare Crisis. FEE, David Dorn, & Keith Knight
https://youtu.be/_uYHh1noCxs ... our very real medical crisis has been the product of massive government intervention, state and federal, throughout the century; in particular, an artificial boosting of demand coupled with an artificial restriction of supply. Th e result has been accelerating high prices and deterioration of patient care. And next, socialized medicine could easily bring us to the vaunted medical status of the Soviet Union: everyone has the right to free medical care, but there is, in effect, no medicine and no care. Murray N. Rothbard Making Economic Sense, p. 77...
News Roundup 4/30/21
US News A woman has been charged with a felony for not returning a VHS tape from 1999. [Link] A CA study found massive racial bias in the child welfare system. Half of the black and Native American children received a visit from the state at some time during their childhood. [Link] A US watchdog questions the US attempt to send aid into Venezuela in 2019. The report says the aid could have been an attempt to fuel regime change rather than help the Venezuelan people. [Link] Afghanistan The White House announces the withdrawal from Afghanistan has begun. [Link] Middle East Palestinian...
In Defense of Libertarian Socialism
Socialism has become quite the boogyman for libertarians everywhere, especially since the majority of libertarians are more right-wing rather than left. To understand this on a very basic level, take a look at the political compass. It’s not perfect since it lacks distinction between moral beliefs and legal beliefs but can serve as an easy way to (broadly) categorize political identity into four sections: authoritarian left, authoritarian right, libertarian left, and libertarian right. Both authoritarian quadrants represent a high government presence and little autonomy for the...
Cop Attempts to Shoot Cow, Shoots Fellow Pig Instead
Despite much of their training consisting of shooting their weapons, police officers often shoot and even kill innocent bystanders while trying to kill something else. This happens so often that even their fellow officers aren’t safe from the crossfire. Illustrating this point is the fact that a Harrisonburg officer is currently hospitalized after his fellow officer shot him—while trying to kill a cow. The incident unfolded on Saturday night when officers responded to reports of a cow that had escaped a livestock auction site. According to police, the cow actually struck an officer and...