In recent weeks Americans have been debating, and appalled by, the Disinformation Governance Board set up by the Department of Homeland Security. The Disinformation Governance Board was established by the government to counter “disinformation” and present the “correct” view of current events.
Finland and Sweden’s recent decision to apply for North Atlantic Treaty Organization membership is a major win for the military alliance, but a far more dubious one for these two countries. NATO badly needs a success at this moment, since neither the economic war on Russia nor the conflict in Ukraine seems to be going the West’s way. Whether officially adding two more Nordic countries would have a real military advantage for NATO remains to be seen, but at least it would be a clear public relations win.
Readers may recall Florida Senate Bill 7202, regulating social media platforms, which was passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Ron DeSantis about a year ago. The stated intention of the legislation is to combat social media censorship. This bill had a slate of provisions, including:
Criminals seriously harm people here and there, but to systematically harm people everywhere takes governments.
The Fed disincentivizes working. It enables banks to create money, lend out the money, and transfer losses to taxpayers. As a result, over time the same nominal amount of pay buys less and less. People work less.
The Fed disincentivizes saving. Its new money reduces the interest earned by people who would save. People save less.
The current baby formula shortage in the United States is a pressing crisis, and many in the media have been rushing to explain how such a thing could have happened. But on close analysis, it appears to share the same root as virtually every other crisis experienced in the modern world: a government promised benefits without costs.
Total globalization has brought the world order into crisis. The difference of interests, conditions, and opportunities, as well as the socioeconomic regimes of the participants initially implied risks of imbalances. As a result, the wrong policy of coordination—excessive integration with resource autocracies or forced physical (military) coercion to change regimes—led the situation to economic and ideological contradictions.
It has become a familiar sight over the past decade and a half: a supposedly venerable member of the financial elite tells us with utmost calm that what we think we are seeing isn’t really all that bad. The Fed already knows all about it and has already taken all necessary steps. Further, they are monitoring the situation closely and are ready to make any necessary adjustments with ease and alacrity.
The social contract in autocracies and totalitarian dictatorships is characterized by the fact that power is always at the top of the triangle: state, business, society—business and society’s nominal weight is always less than that of the state. In particular, this pattern of social structure is typical for Russia: society and business are in a subordinate position to power.
Or rather, in the case of Somalia, we never stopped – and we just keep doing it!
As the Biden administration orders U.S. troops to back to Somalia in significant numbers, several things are worth noting in opposition to yet another military response to a faraway crisis of small stakes and absolutely no consequence to Americans.
