Patrick McKnight
The Fed (and Central Planning) Are Fueling ...

By Doug French

Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, included ten planks required to create a socialist dictatorship. Number five on the list is “Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.” America’s Federal Reserve satisfies this requirement, especially the modern version, which grows exponentially in size, scope, and power, engineering financial repression “for governments to increase tax income and domestically-held debt.”1

While socialism continues to creep from university classrooms to replace once-upon-a-time laissez-faire in everyday America, opioid use has grown to be termed an epidemic.

The Fed (and Central Planning) Are Fueling Substance Abuse
Patrick McKnight
Why You Need F-You Money

By J.L. Collins

Those who live paycheck to paycheck are slaves. Those who carry debt are slaves with even stouter shackles. Don’t think for the moment their masters don’t know it.

Why You Need F-You Money
Patrick McKnight
Teachers Unions Are Bad for Teachers. Here’s Why

Rigid pay scales, high dues, lousy pension system: Membership has its privileges.

The New Jersey Education Association, the state chapter of the largest teachers union in the country, boasted more than 200,000 members and $154 million in revenue last year. You might think it focuses on helping teachers become more effective and making the public schools better—especially now, with more than 80% of the state’s districts still not offering full-time in-person instruction 13 months after the pandemic began.

Teachers Unions Are Bad for Teachers. Here’s Why
Patrick McKnight
Value Is Subjective: Neither Gold Nor Crypto ...

By Connor Mortell

A major hurdle to the adoption of bitcoin is that while the average person may be at least open to the idea that fiat money is not the ideal, they still struggle to see a difference between fiat money and cryptocurrency. And this lumping together is not just held to the average adopter but includes many brilliant household names such as Peter Schiff and Elon Musk. This widespread conflation of cryptocurrency and fiat currency comes from two vital misunderstandings: a lack of an understanding of what exactly fiat is and a lack of understanding of value’s subjectivity.

Value Is Subjective: Neither Gold Nor Crypto Have "Real Value"
Patrick McKnight
Understanding the Fed's Balance Sheet

By Robert Aro

The Fed’s balance sheet could easily be replaced with the phrase abracadabra; truly, there is little else in the world which works as magically as it does. Often cited, seldom understood, few seem to realize that as the balance sheet expands, so too does the power of this central bank at the expense of the entire nation.

Understanding the Fed's Balance Sheet

Hickenlooper is Right: Socialism is NOT the Answer 

Hickenlooper is Right: Socialism is NOT the Answer 

By Lee Enochs  

This past weekend was a busy one for many Americans, as many of us enjoyed the great outdoors as the weather warmed around the country, the liberal political world also showed signs of heating up. A particularly “heated moment” took place just a few days ago at California’s Democratic Convention during 2020 presidential hopeful Hickenlooper brief but controversial remarks before that progressive political body.

The fawning adulation and applause the pragmatic former Governor of Colorado received at that Democratic Convention quickly turned into anger, vitriol and a cascade of boos as Hickenlooper rejected the notion that socialism is the answer to America’s political and economic problems. “If we want to beat Donald Trump and achieve big progressive goals, socialism is not the answer," Hickenlooper boldly proclaimed to a crowd of more than 4,500 progressive delegates this past Saturday.

How College Profs Push Students to Socialism

How College Profs Push Students to Socialism

By Chris Calton

After the collapse of the housing market in 2008, professional historians gave birth to a new sub-field of history usually referred to as “the new history of capitalism.” Economic history is hardly novel, but the new history of capitalism takes the approach that capitalismis the “thing” that needs to be explained. In the past decade, this field has become one of the most fashionable trends in the history profession, with centers for the study of capitalism being established at Cornell and the University of Georgia.

Predictably, the scholarship that falls under this label is replete with problems. Most self-described “historians of capitalism” know nothing of economic theory even as they try to incorporate it into their writings. Seth Rockaman, from Brown University, for instance, supports his analysis of antebellum Baltimore by quoting Adam Smith’s exposition of the labor theory of value. Rockaman seems to be taking a sly shot at proponents of capitalism—“even your precious Adam Smith believes labor is the source of value”—but he appears to be entirely unaware that economists abandoned the labor theory of value more than a century ago.

Trump’s Embrace of ‘Bubblenomics’ May be his Downfall

Trump’s Embrace of ‘Bubblenomics’ May be his Downfall

By Murray Sabrin

Two days after Donald Trump announced his candidacy in 2015 he told “Morning Joe” on MSNBC: “We have a big, fat bubble coming up, you watch. We have artificially induced low interest rates … I borrow money … You pay like nothing; they give you free money. Now that’s bad, that’s not good.”  

Despite sounding like a “hard-money” critic of the Federal Reserve as a presidential candidate, President Donald Trump has been reminding the American people in tweets and chats with the press in the Oval Office that the stock market has boomed during his presidency, and he really is a “low-interest person.”

Here is some background to Trump’s 180-degree pivot from Fed critic of easy money to Fed critic of “normalizing “interest rates.

The increase in short-term interest rates since late 2015 did not stifle the stock market’s climb to an all-time high in January 2018. After having a mild correction in the first quarter of 2018 the stock market, as measured by the S&P 500 index, rocketed to an all-time high in September 2018 at 2940.91. 

Iraq and the Destruction of American Liberty

Iraq and the Destruction of American Liberty

By Jacob G. Hornberger

This week marks the 16th anniversary of the U.S. government’s invasion of Iraq. The anniversary helps to remind us of the important role that country has played in the destruction of American liberty.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq, which was ordered by President George W. Bush, was justified under the rubric of “weapons of mass destruction” or “WMDs.” The argument was twofold: that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein possessed WMDs and, even worse, was about to deploy them against the United States. The invasion, the Bush people argued, was necessary to both “disarm” Saddam and prevent an imminent WMD attack on the United States.

Why were U.S. officials so certain that Saddam had WMDs? Because they had the receipts. It was the U.S. and other Western countries that furnished Saddam with the WMDs that they later used as the excuse to invade the country.

Climate Disaster Alarmism: Is the World Really Coming to an End in Ten Years?

Climate Disaster Alarmism: Is the World Really Coming to an End in Ten Years?

By Lee Enochs

In recent years, the controversial subject of global warming and a potential “climate disaster” has received a lot of media attention. 

There are some scientists and progressive politicians who are now arguing that unless profound steps are taken to reduce worldwide carbon emissions in order to significantly reduce the earth’s temperature, we face an impending world-wide climate related catastrophe.

Former Presidential aspirant and Vice-President Al Gore was one of the first national personalities to raise the subject of global warming and the potentiality of an impending climate related catastrophe with the release of his Oscar winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth in 2006.

The Current Crisis in Venezuela Demonstrates Why Socialism is a Bad Idea

The Current Crisis in Venezuela Demonstrates Why Socialism is a Bad Idea

By Lee Enochs

Socialism is on the rise in America today. There is inconvertible evidence for this disturbing political and economic trend as veteran correspondent Andrew Malcolm reported in his recent insightful op-ed entitled, “How President Trump Helps Divide Democrats by Fanning the Flames of Socialism.” Malcolm cites a recent Gallup poll that indicates that 57% of Democrats viewed socialism positively, while only 47% viewed capitalism positively (See: Star - Telegram, February 20, 2019).

So serious is the rise of socialism in America today, that President Trump devoted a substantial portion of his recent “State of the Union” address dealing with the issue and said, “Here, in the United States, we are alarmed by new calls to adopt socialism in our country. America was founded on liberty and independence — not government coercion, domination and control. We are born free, and we will stay free. Tonight, we renew our resolve that America will never be a socialist country.”

The economic and political issues involved here are enormous and put simply, socialism is a dubious economic theory that opposes capitalist notions of individualized profit and private property and advocates that that the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution of capital, land and etc., should be controlled and regulated by the state.

Bernie Sanders is Still Wrong for America

Bernie Sanders is Still Wrong for America

By Lee Enochs

So, it’s official! Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders is running for President again! Bernie Sanders, if you recall,  is the leftist politician serving as the junior United States Senator from Vermont who ran a vigorous but losing progressive primary challenge against eventual Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Sanders, age 77, officially announced that he is campaigning for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2020, a very odd prospect, since Sanders has actually never been a member of the Democratic Party as he is an Independent Democratic Socialist politician who caucuses with the Democrats when he votes in the U.S. Senate.

However, irrespective of his questionable Socialist political affiliation and ultimate viability as a major Presidential candidate, Sanders has already proven he will a major player and formidable contestant, having raised over $3.3 million dollars in the first eight hours since he announced he is running for President again on Tuesday morning. 

Were the Early Christians Socialists?

Were the Early Christians Socialists?

By Lee Enochs 

The political system known as socialism is gaining popularity in America. Even some progressive Christians argue that authentic Christian belief and practice includes a socialist concept of anti-individualist property rights and obligatory revenue sharing.

However, Is it ok to own personal property? Or should we forfeit all claims to personal property ownership and give up our possessions to live in a communal and socialistic utopian society where no one owns anything individually and everyone shares goods, food, property and monetary resources with the societal collective?

Socialists and communists historically have argued against individual property rights for state ownership of all property and possessions.

Why the Green New Deal is Ridiculous

Why the Green New Deal is Ridiculous

By Lee Enochs 

In the most expansive and comprehensive plan for progressive control of the American government in history, freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a “Democratic Socialist,” rolled out her highly anticipated and very controversial “Green New Deal” yesterday.

The non-binding and flagrantly audacious resolution, promises to restructure the entire American economy for the stated purpose of eliminating the U.S. carbon footprint by 2030.

Why the Rise of Socialism is Bad for America

Why the Rise of Socialism is Bad for America

By Lee Enochs 

Socialism, the political and economic theory of social organization, which postulates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange of monetary resources for goods should be regulated by the state, is on the rise in the United States. 

 The economic and political system of socialism are directly related to the concepts of “collectivism,” the practice or principle of giving a group priority over each individual in it, and “statism,” a political system in which the state has substantial centralized control over social and economic affairs of a given state or society.