News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
Wanjiru Njoya 
Many people today consider the prospect of a socialist utopia to be very appealing. Even if they do not believe such a utopia is achievable in its purest sense, they believe it is something we all ought to work towards. For many liberals who flirt with socialism, one of the most beguiling features of socialism … Read more
In their book Who Killed the Constitution, Thomas E. Woods and Kevin C.R. Gutzman argue that the demise of constitutionalism—the principle of limited government—is by no means a recent development. It can be traced back several decades, “close to a century.” It is not the work of just one political party or another, but an assault … Read more
In his essay on “Right Wing Populism” Murray Rothbard proposed to build a political coalition to overcome one of the main obstacles faced by liberty movements at election time, namely, the problem that “the numbers simply weren’t there.” Building a popular coalition would address the numbers problem by uniting those who share political goals in common, even … Read more
Many people were shocked to see the identitarian left erupting in ghoulish celebration when news broke that Charlie Kirk had been assassinated. Students who despised Kirk’s political views were seen chanting, “We got Charlie in the neck.” The British sociologist Frank Furedi argues that these students are not confined to a radical, unhinged fringe, nor do they merely … Read more
To their critics—who regard themselves as the center of all things—all these men are just different types of “woke,” though some fall to the left and others to the right. Gottfried explains:
As the language of Marxism becomes increasingly disguised in moralistic slogans such as “social justice” and “inclusiveness,” many people fail to recognize Marxist theories when they encounter them. They expect theories derived from Marxism to be littered with red flag phrases like “dialectical materialism” or “class conflict,” which would be the dead giveaway that they … Read more
It is correct, analytically and logically, to distinguish secession from war. Many states secede peacefully, and it does not logically follow that secession must occasion war. The Southern states of America seceded peacefully, and Lincoln’s subsequent war which followed four months after secession was entirely unnecessary. Hence, Murray Rothbard wrote in his memo to the Volker Fund in 1961 … Read more
The historian Ludwell H. Johnson III argued that “the job of the historian is not to pass judgment, but to try to understand.” By trying to understand the past, historians enrich our cultural heritage and help us to build on the achievements of our predecessors while, hopefully, avoiding their mistakes. History is, of course, a vital component … Read more
To Marxists, everything is inherent and inevitable. Human beings are inherently constrained to act as they do by their prevailing material conditions, leading inevitably to class conflicts. They view human beings as captive to the ideology of their class. Karl Marx argued that, owing to inherent class conflict, individuals cannot view problems objectively—or even individually … Read more
In his book Intellectuals and Race, the great economist Thomas Sowell excoriates intellectuals for their role in promoting statist social engineering schemes. Sowell defined “intellectuals” as “a particular occupation—namely, people whose work begins and ends with ideas. It is an occupational designation, rather than an honorific title, and implies nothing about the mental level of those … Read more
The Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution brought a decisive end to slavery in the United States in 1865. The amendment enshrines important principles of justice—self-ownership, individual liberty, and equality before the law. The amendment declares that, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been … Read more
In “Abolition: An Acid Test,” Murray Rothbard criticized libertarians who defended slavery as part of their defense of property rights. Those libertarians had argued that slaves were classified as property and, therefore, abolishing slavery would be tantamount to expropriation of the slaveowners’ property. This was indeed one of the arguments put forward by slaveowners who … Read more
It will not have escaped many people’s attention that one of the main strategies in America’s “reckoning on race and Southern identity” involves depicting the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of racial oppression. Against this, Patrick J. Buchanan argued that: What the flag symbolizes for the millions who revere, cherish, or love it, however, is the heroism … Read more
Owing largely to a campaign led by Florida, many people are now aware of the fallacies of Critical Race Theory. In recent months, some states have banned the “divisive concepts” of CRT. For example, in Alabama, it was reported that: The bill has examples of divisive concepts such as “individuals, by virtue of race, color, religion, sex, ethnicity, … Read more
In a 2022 article titled “Will the U.S. Supreme Court ever get around to overruling the shame of Dred Scott?” the surprising proposition is advanced that the1857 Dred Scott case is “still precedent” in the United States, and that “racist lawyers and racist judges can (blatantly or discreetly) rely on it in their arguments and rulings.” Like … Read more
Many people are familiar with the divisive concepts of Critical Race Theory (CRT). The best-known examples are the notion of “white privilege” and the redefinition of racism as “power plus privilege.” These concepts have been widely rejected, and even banned from public schools in some states. However, less often remarked upon is CRT’s more pernicious … Read more
There will never come a time when all human beings are in full ideological agreement, which is why free speech is of paramount importance to peaceful co-existence. Free speech is the only foundation on which men who disagree with each other can debate their opposing ideologies, or even hurl insults at each other if so … Read more
An activist historian in the United Kingdom, who rose to prominence as a supporter of Black Lives Matter, recently expounded to the Times on what he sees as the proper role of historians: “I think [the job of historians] is to try to stand there at this arsenal of dangerous ideas and to make it more difficult … Read more
In Against the State, Lew Rockwell explains how the constant expansion of state power is often justified as a necessary means of achieving the dreams and visions of voters. In its relentless pursuit of power, the state has a strong incentive to focus on the problems that are likely to resonate most deeply with voters and, … Read more
Murray Rothbard conceptualized liberty as an emanation of property rights and self-ownership. Freedom of association is, therefore, best understood as “a subset of private property rights.” Just as property rights are absolute and limited only by respect for other people’s property rights, freedom of association is absolute and constrained only by other people’s freedom to … Read more