Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.'s Blog, page 2458

Living Through the Wreckage on Wall Street

Michael Lewis has an uncanny ability to take a subject—-any subject—-even one as typically “mundane” and boring as the financial world, and somehow bringing it to life in such a way that the reader is riveted from start to finish. I first read this book when it was new and was utterly astounded by his humor and ability to explain even the most convoluted economic concepts and turn them into “page turning” reading. I have since read/purchased all of his books, as well as having read his articl...

Out of the Ashes

Anthony Esolen, a professor at Thomas More College of the Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire and recently of Providence College, Rhode Island, has written a stinging critique of modern education and American society in general titled Out Of The Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture published by Regnery Publishers, 2017.

It’s a short book – 203 pages – but contains much wise social commentary and observations on everything wrong with American education, if there’s any such thing. Esolen is...

In the Footsteps of Rome

Once the shared memories of these values are lost, the Empire ceases to exist; there is nothing left to reform or renew.

Is renewal/recovery from systemic decline possible? The history of the Roman Empire is a potentially insightful place to start looking for answers. As long-time readers know, I’ve been studying both the Western and Eastern (Byzantine) Roman Empires over the past few years.

Both Western and Eastern Roman Empires faced existential crises that very nearly dissolved the empires...

Libertarian Neocons

The headline at Reason.com says enough:

John McCain’s Flawed, Important Example in the Age of Trump: The cancer-stricken senator’s eternal pursuit of honor and integrity are a welcome tonic in a tawdry age, even while his policy misjudgments helped pave the way for the new Republican politics he abhors.

The essay is written by Matt Welch:

Matt Welch is editor at large of Reason, the libertarian magazine of “Free Minds and Free Markets.” He served as Reason’s editor in chief from 2008-2016.

No...

Trump, Veto Congress

This week’s expected House vote to add more sanctions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea is a prime example of how little thought goes into US foreign policy. Sanctions have become kind of an automatic action the US government takes when it simply doesn’t know what else to do.

No matter what the problem, no matter where on earth it occurs, the answer from Washington is always sanctions. Sanctions are supposed to force governments to change policies and do what Washington tells them or face the...

The Real John McCain

As soon as John McCain had been diagnosed with brain cancer, Democrats and Republicans in Washington and the press spared no opportunity to lavish praise upon this lifelong government employee.

The truth, though, is that in exchange for the billions and billions of dollars that McCain has confiscated from them for well over three decades, taxpayers have received an ever-burgeoning administrative state, relentless illegal immigration from the Third World, and, of course, war—and all while McCa...

‘‘Russia Hack’ Evidence

In a memo to President Trump, a group of former U.S. intelligence officers, including NSA specialists, cite new forensic studies to challenge the claim of the key Jan. 6 “assessment” that Russia “hacked” Democratic emails last year. 

MEMORANDUM FOR: The President

FROM: Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

SUBJECT: Was the “Russian Hack” an Inside Job?

Executive Summary

Forensic studies of “Russian hacking” into Democratic National Committee computers last year reveal that on J...

Jeff Sessions & Co.’s Plot

“Laws are no longer made by a rational process of public discussion; they are made by a process of blackmail and intimidation, and they are executed in the same manner. The typical lawmaker of today is a man wholly devoid of principle — a mere counter in a grotesque and knavish game. If the right pressure could be applied to him, he would be cheerfully in favor of polygamy, astrology or cannibalism. It is the aim of the Bill of Rights, if it has any remaining aim at all, to curb such prehensi...

Are Invaders Getting Gun-Shy?

USA – 40/29 News on demand reports 06-25-2017 in Spiro, Oklahoma, that around midnight a woman and her husband were in their home, when the (front) door swung open.

They called out as they thought it was her father arriving, but no one answered. When they walked toward the entrance to the home, they noticed an unknown man walking into the house.

The woman was able to grab her gun and stop the man. She escorted him outside. The couple called 911 and police were able to respond quickly.

The vic...

The CIA Director Is a Venomous Snake

The agency operates unaccountably, its diabolical agenda incompatible with democratic values and rule of law principles.

It’s mostly a global Mafia hit squad. Its unchecked power threatens everyone. As long as it exists, no one anywhere is safe.

Imperialism is tyranny by another name. The CIA acts as its enforcer. America is the United States of Amnesia, learning nothing from its imperial history, repeating the same mistakes, ordinary people at home and abroad suffering most.

Pompeo is the la...