Topic: Authoritarianism

“They Mean to Be Masters”: A Review of Trust Us

– February 23, 2023

“The documentary considers the role experts assumed in the twentieth century: figuring out what you should do and how you should do it. You aren’t just to seek their counsel. You are to obey – or else.” ~ Art Carden

Authoritarianism, Classical Liberalism, History

Obstacles to Freedom Can Be the Way to Freedom

– January 26, 2023

“If we set our purpose to learn from obstacles, today, there is no better opportunity to choose freedom over violence. Thankfully, Read, Aurelius, and Emerson point the way; the more significant the obstacles, the greater the potential change.” ~ Barry Brownstein

Authoritarianism, Free Markets, Government

Davos and the Holy Grail of Equity

– January 25, 2023

“At what point will their good intentions lead to tyranny? Did we learn nothing from the pandemic, when government overreach led to economic, health, and educational disasters?” ~ Caroline Breashears

Authoritarianism, Free Markets, Government

Letting Chinese Nationals Buy Real Estate is a Human Rights Issue

– January 24, 2023

“The inability to seize some of the wealth of a small minority of Chinese people makes the world a slightly better place than it otherwise would be.” Vincent Geloso

Authoritarianism, Government, History, Technology

The Power to Regulate Is the Power to Control

– January 19, 2023

“The ‘chilling effect’ of government censorship by corporate proxy has Americans on an icy slope that bottoms out in the sort of political slavery feared by the Founders and Framers.” ~ Robert E. Wright

Authoritarianism, Classical Liberalism, Government, History

How Individuals Enable Tyranny

– January 13, 2023

“Mill, Havel, and Kundera all point us to a terrible truth: our moral weakness, desire to evade responsibility, and illusion that the majority makes right have led us down the slippery slope of forfeiting our freedom.” ~ Barry Brownstein

Authoritarianism, Government, Property Rights

Innocence Doesn’t Matter When the Government Wants to Steal Your Money

– January 11, 2023

“If we truly believe that Americans should be considered innocent until proven guilty, not guilty until proven innocent, then we need to end the scourge of civil asset forfeiture entirely.” ~ Joe Setyon

Authoritarianism, Government, Technology

The Twitter Files: Lenin Would Be Proud

– January 8, 2023

“When your main mission is to do the bidding of the state, rather than serving consumers in the voluntary marketplace, you are not really a private company in the true sense of the term. Your company is not a market phenomenon.” ~ Brian Balfour

Authoritarianism, Government, International

The Greatest Threat to World Peace: North Korea’s Kim Jong-un?

– December 23, 2022

“The best way to enhance America’s security is for its defense-dependents to graduate and take care of themselves and their own regions. With the US off the peninsula, Pyongyang wouldn’t much care about affairs in Washington.” ~ Doug Bandow

Authoritarianism, Central Banking, Government

CBDC in the USA: Not Now, Not Ever

– December 13, 2022

“The fact that the New York Fed, in conjunction with a handful of private banks, has implemented a ‘pilot’ program with digital tokens is worrying enough. Under no circumstances should we allow the government to roll out a CBDC.” ~ Alexander William Salter

Authoritarianism, Government, Philosophy

A Swiss Oasis of Liberal Sanity in a Totalitarian Europe

– December 11, 2022

“Let us hope that such oases always exist somewhere to help preserve the spirit of classical liberalism during times of ideological and philosophical crisis.” ~ Richard M. Ebeling

Authoritarianism, Government, History, Socialism

Six Ways Socialism is Anti-Social

– December 10, 2022

“Even if a socialist’s own life is a mess, he still knows how to run everybody else’s. Even if he doesn’t believe there’s a God, he thinks the State can be one.” ~ Lawrence W. Reed