https://youtu.be/NWssd_IuklE To the extent that the years between the end of World War II and today are a story of competing economic visions, the short version is this: Karl Marx was wrong, and Milton Friedman was right. Market-oriented reforms over the past several decades have cut severe poverty around the world by more than half. As late as 1980, more than 40% of the world’s population lived in severe poverty, according to World Bank figures. Now, that share is less than 10%. There is simply nothing else in the history of the material affairs of the world that can compare to that. -...
World War II
‘There Is No Off-Ramp’: A Recipe for Nuclear War
As if he were holding a gun at our back, President Joe Biden is pushing Americans ever higher on the escalation ladder with Moscow. Recently, former Russian President and current Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev warned that Washington and NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine risks becoming a “full-fledged nuclear war.” In a message that should be heard loud and clear by the American people, Medvedev cautioned “the pumping of Ukraine by NATO countries with weapons, the training of its troops to use Western equipment, the dispatch of mercenaries and the conduct of...
By Banning Russian Oil, Europe Forgot How It Won the Cold War
The European Union is close to reaching an agreement on banning the import of Russian oil. Some Eastern-European member states, particularly Hungary, are trying to obtain exemptions or delays on the implementation of the ban. All in all, however, it seems likely that many if not all EU members will soon agree to ban Russian crude oil completely within the next six months, while refined oil would be phased out by the end of 2022. The ban is only the latest EU disciplinary economic measure which the bloc has levelled against Russia. On February 24, the starting day of the Russian invasion...
The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act: From Propaganda to Censorship to Tyranny
Spectacle and theater have come to dominate the political arena today, even more so than ever before. Politicians are now celebrity oligarchs, who use tax revenues to promote their pet projects, and to enhance their personal investment portfolios, while pretending in scrupulously orchestrated performances to care about the populace from whom all of the money they squander is siphoned. Congresspersons who issue dire warnings about global warming jet across the world for photo ops with President Zelensky in Ukraine. The provision by the federal government of Peloton bicycle memberships to...
As Military Aid and Intel Sharing Increases, the U.S. Sleepwalks into the Russia-Ukraine War
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, the U.S. has significantly escalated its support for Kyiv, both militarily and rhetorically, reflecting a growing mission creep that comes with the risk of provoking Moscow. Early on in the invasion, the U.S. was wary of confirming details of military aid, intelligence sharing, and training of Ukrainian forces. But now, U.S. officials are speaking openly about how Washington is helping Ukraine in its fight against Russia. Last week, anonymous U.S. officials speaking to the media claimed U.S. intelligence had helped Ukrainian forces kill Russian...
The Long, Lucrative, and Bloody Road to World War III
Well, this war in Ukraine will last "months and years." At least, that is what the leaders of the D.C. foreign policy blob, the media, President Joe Biden’s men, Pentagon and NATO leadership have decided. Their plan is to pour oil on the flames and keep the fire raging. Also, Americans are going to have to cough up the dough for another massive aid package, with $20 billion worth of weapons to keep the blood flowing. In total, this next package will cost the taxpayer $33 billion. With Biden’s proposed $813 billion “defense” budget for 2023, the U.S. is spending more on the military and...
We Want YOU to Keep The War Going
The American people are allowing their blood soaked rulers in Washington to callously prolong the war in Ukraine. The complicit media has propagandized and lied the American people into insisting Washington double down on all their worst aggressions. And so continues the hawks’ reckless gamble on World War 3 to spite President Vladimir Putin and - once and for all - destroy Russia. President Joe Biden’s administration and other hawks do not want the war in Ukraine to end. They are not alone, some NATO member states prefer to see the war drag on indefinitely as well. As Libertarian...
Lew Rockwell Was Right About China
Over the last year, I have focused much of my work on opposing the New Cold War with Russia and China—particularly with China. In a recent piece, “‘No One is Calling for War with China,’” I tackled a claim that I’ve been hearing recently. I understand the argument to go like this: “advocating tougher China policy is not advocating war against China.” In a very literal sense, this argument is correct. Those who advocate tougher China policy are not literally suggesting war with China. But even real dyed-in-the-wool China hawks aren't demanding war. So, if not literally calling for war is...
The ‘Threat’ of the Big Bad Bear
At the height of the late Cold War period, Andrew Cockburn wrote The Threat, a book that explored the bear cave of assumed Soviet military dominance. Challenging the narrative of Soviet supremacy—the belief that the Red Bear not only had greater numbers in their favor but also technological marvels that were capable of ensuring swift victory in time of war—Cockburn exposed myths that had been invented: a perceived supremacy that helped justify NATO, the Pentagon’s spending sprees, and a military-industrial complicated nation state that continues to grow long after the Berlin Wall fell and...
Why Do Our Neighbors Support War with Russia?
In the world today, the war in Ukraine is the worst thing happening, right? Not really, that would actually be Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, the Middle East’s poorest nation. In the Yemen war, now beginning its eighth year, Washington and its satellites Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have been directly responsible for the callous bombing and destruction of civilian infrastructure. This ceaseless brutality combined with the Saudi’s full naval blockade, according to UN numbers, has led to more than 377,000 people killed. This figure includes the starvation deaths of at least 263,900 babies and...