Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.'s Blog, page 319

Republicans Fail Again

When I was a teacher, I gave an F to scores on tests or assignments that were below 60. This means that Republicans have failed again.

The latest Republican scores can be found in “The Freedom Index: A Congressional Scorecard Based on the U.S. Constitution.” The Freedom Index “rates congressmen based on their adherence to constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, national sovereignty, and a traditional foreign policy of avoiding foreign entanglements.” It is publish...

Do We Really Need a President?

According to various memes and commentaries, the US avoided civil war by an inch during an outdoor rally July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania when an assassin’s bullet only grazed Donald Trump’s ear instead of killing him.  And if the bullet had done its job, would MAGA supporters organize into militias and march on Washington?  If so, then what?

Recall the situation brewing prior to World War I, when Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand visited the city of Sarajevo in Bosnia on June 28, 1914.  Fi...

The Nervousness of Corporate Surveillance Pseudo-Libertarians

“Socially liberal billionaires have been with us a long time…But the libertarian pose of some Silicon Valley moguls, so carefully cultivated in their public relations, is a bit of a sham” – Mike Lofgren, The Deep State: The Fall of the Constitution and the Rise of Shadow Government, 2016.

“Fascism and communism are not two opposites but two rival gangs fighting over the same territory based on the collectivist principle that man is a right-less slave of the state – Ayn Rand

Cognitive Dissonance:...

How Many Little Girls = 1 George Floyd?

Does anyone miss 2020’s summer of love crime? The arson, the lootings, the killings, beatings and rampages were “mostly peaceful” after all. If the dead cannot be raised raising hell — making off with a case of our favorite drink from a local merchant is the least we can do. Surrounded by embers in boozy bliss and the spirits of George Floyd, Jacob Blake and other latter day saints dwell in our midst.

The news mouths kept explaining the memorial rites at the time. They weren’t “rioting,” they we...

The Folly of Legislating Against Unfairness

In A Cure Worse Than The Disease: Fighting Discrimination Through Government Control, M. Lester O’Shea criticizes the notion that we should legislate against unfairness. He poses the question as follows: “No one defends unfairness. So shouldn’t it be against the law?” In posing the question that way, his point is that the mere fact that we regard something as unfair – or even morally wrong – does not mean we ought to legislate against it. This point is of central importance to his argument again...

Elon Musk’s D.O.G.E Is a DODGE

Elon Musk has announced that he would like to serve in a Trump administration as the head of a newly-created Department of Government Efficiency which he labeled the D.O.G.E.  Just what we need: A new federal bureaucracy.  Former President Trump did convene such a “commission” during his presidency that turned out to be useless, but nevertheless responded that Musk’s suggestion was a great idea.

In reality, the phrase “government efficiency” is as much a contradiction in terms as say, “jumbo shr...

Britain Claims To Have Helped With the Ukrainian Invasion of Russia

Yves Smith is discussing the Washington Post report on Russia-Ukraine negotiation to end the infrastructure attacks:

An Admission of Russian Long-Term Weakness or More Complex Calculation?

I had previously discussed the WaPo piece here.

Yves suggests that the negotiations, if they really have happened as described, were an Ukrainian ruse to distract Russia from the Ukrainian preparation of the Kursk oblast incursion. The talks were useless for Russia, she says. She doubts that Russia would favor...

The Frogs Will Boil Themselves

There’s a well-known old fable that describes a frog being boiled alive. It states that if a frog is dropped in boiling water, it will hop out. But if it’s placed in lukewarm water, it will be comfortable. Then, if the heat is turned up slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be boiled to death.

In political terms, this translates into a slow increase, say, the slow rise of taxation or the gradual removal of freedoms.

But there’s another way to boil the electorate of a country: have the...

Something’s Coming, We Don’t Know What It Is But It Is Going To Be Bad

“With a click, with a shock
Phone’ll jingle, door’ll knock, open the latch
Something’s coming, don’t know when but it’s soon . . . “
– “Something’s Coming,” lyrics by S. Sondheim, music by L. Bernstein – West Side Story

Shock should not be the word, but when World War III breaks fully loose many who are now sleeping will be shocked.  The war has already started, but it’s full fury and devastation are just around the corner.  When it does, Tony’s singular fate in West Side Story will be the fate ...

Back to the Future With Price Controls

Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris is demonstrating why monetary debasement has always been a favorite way for government officials to plunder the citizenry. Rather than focusing on the Federal Reserve as the root cause of prices rising across society, she’s blaming rising food prices on grocery-store owners. Consequently, she says that if she is elected president, she’ll get a federal “anti-gouging” law enacted that prevents grocery stores from raising prices.

In other words, she’s g...