In the book Crisis and Leviathan, libertarian thinker Robert Higgs pointed out that the state uses crises to ratchet up its power and control over citizens. With each new “crisis” — often directly or indirectly caused by the state itself — government grows and our freedom shrinks.
Possibly one of the most inane phrases ever uttered about modern governments is Oliver Wendell Holmes’s oft-quoted phrase stating that “taxes are what we pay for civilized society.”
This reflected the naïve view, often pushed in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, of the so-called “social contract.” According to this idea, we pay taxes, and in return the state provides order, protection, and all the blessings of civilization.
Criticisms of pro-market policies, such as lower corporate taxes and deregulation, are often rooted in a form of discrimination rarely acknowledged: upward classism. This prejudice against people of higher socio-economic status misrepresents the contributions of “the rich” and distorts discussions about public policy. While these policies are castigated as benefiting the wealthy, they have demonstrable benefits for broader economic growth and living standards.
As we start a new year, it is a good time to take a step back and remember what the past year has taught us. History might not repeat itself, but it does rhyme, as the saying goes, and the past is always the best teacher to prepare us for the future.
Last Friday, House Republicans opened the first session of the 119th Congress by voting to keep Representative Mike Johnson (R-LA) on as Speaker of the House. Almost every Republican—including pro-establishment moderates, Trump loyalists, and even the “hardliners” that make up the fiscally conservative Freedom Caucus—fell in line behind Johnson. The one Republican who refused to vote for Johnson was Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie.
Donald Trump wants an open border with Canada. At least, that’s what would happen if Trump were to execute his stated preference for annexing Canada as the fifty-first state.
