Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.'s Blog, page 19

‘Now Is the Time of Monsters’

In ancient Rome, interregnum was the term given to the period between stable governments when anything untoward might occur, and sometimes did – civil unrest, warfare between warlords, power vacuums and, finally, succession wars. But eventually the dust would settle and the victors, whoever they might be, would at some point restabilise the empire, often with a new map, showing the latest lines of geographic possession.

In 1929, the Italian Antonio Gramsci was in a fascist prison, writing about ...

Why Taxes Were So Hated in the Middle Ages

By now, it’s a very well known historical narrative: during the Middle Ages, kings were all powerful over their subjects. They ruled with a divine right, and therefore could raise taxes at will. After all, as God’s chosen rulers on earth, who would contradict them? Certainly not the king’s subject who, with the help of the Church, were all utterly cowed by the idea that to disobey the king was to risk eternal damnation.

But then came the Renaissance, the narrative tells us, and people discovered...

In the Autumn of America’s Empire

In his novel The Autumn of the Patriarch, which is eerily evocative of our current political plight, Gabriel Garcia Marquez described how a Latin American autocrat “discovered in the course of his uncountable years that a lie is more comfortable than doubt, more useful than love, more lasting than truth, [and] became convinced … that the only livable life was one of show.”

In amassing unchecked power spiced with unimaginable cruelty, that fictional dictator extinguished any flicker of opposition...

The U.S. Empire in the Trump Era

I suppose that every Royal Rascal that discovers himself to be powerful is tempted by the Devil to create an empire. And usually succumbs.

In the case of the U.S., I’d say that the Spanish-American war in 1898 was the test to see if the U.S. was powerful enough yet for empire. Then, in 1907, President Roosevelt sent the Great White Fleet around the world.

Painted white to signify peace, the fleet was a display of American naval power, showcasing the U.S. as an emerging global force.

So of course...

Government’s Eternal Longing for a Free Lunch

Say’s Law of Markets advances the self-evident truth that supply and demand are two sides of the same coin, meaning one can view economic output as supply as well as demand.  Demand is measured by what producers produce.  Supply is measured by what producers produce.

In a state of nature, one’s own economic demand is dependent on and measured by one’s production.  Survival requires people work to that end.  As civilization emerged producers began trading with one another, exchanging something th...

A Reclamation Project

I recently went to the Netherlands to visit an old friend. He lives in Zeewolde, a small town (pop. 24,000) located in the Flevoland province. I found it remarkable that in this old country, the Netherlands, Zeewolde is only 42 years old, the province being included in 1986. In contrast, we spent an afternoon in Elburg, only about one kilometer on the other side of a little waterway from Flevoland, which was a Medieval fishing village with an impressive gate from 1392 that is still standing.

Fl...

Digital ID is a Core Component of a Technocratic Slave State

Jack booted thugs are applying pressure to the throats of people living in the UK in the form of a new digital ID. Napolean found an invasion of Britain across the English channel too challenging, however, the UK government has deliberately allowed the invasion of boats of illegal aliens across the English channel, and maybe even worse, is using this as an excuse to force a digital ID on the innocent civilians that were betrayed by their own government.

As reported in Zero Hedge:

The growing pro...

They Really Think They’ll Be Able To Propagandize the World Into Liking Israel Again

It’s cute how the Zionists think they’ll be able to manipulate and propagandize the world into liking Israel again.

Yeah, saturate all online platforms with weird-faced influencers telling us Israel is awesome. That’ll make us forget those years of genocidal atrocities.

Sure, buy up the social media platforms that young people are using so you can censor criticism of Israel. That’ll convince them that Zionism is cool.

Go on, take control of CBS and make Bari Weiss the boss. That’ll make us forge...

The Coup, the Calamity, and the Conspiracy

A website specializing in data visuals offered a helpful graphic on global inflation, 2020-2025, with no other comment about how or why this happened. The results are eye-popping and amazing, and a reminder that hardly anyone has fully come to terms with what transpired over five years.

Most currencies in the world took a 25-35 percent haircut, Far East excepted.

[image error]

That’s a technical description that obscures what actually happened. The measures by which most people in the world hold the liquid p...

GOP Obamacare Surrender

For all the media hand-wringing over the government shutdown the fact is only approximately 750,000 of the over two million non-military federal workers are being furloughed. Most federal programs will continue operating, including the major entitlement and welfare programs. The national parks will remain open, if understaffed and with closed visitor centers. Unfortunately, the shutdown will not affect the military-industrial complex.

President Trump’s supposed “master plan” to implement mass fi...