One of the most disastrous elements of the post-World War II conservative movement in America has been its commitment to severing the ideology of “classical liberalism” from its historical roots in antiwar and anti-interventionist foreign policy. What we now call classical liberalism—the ideology of John Locke, Thomas Jefferson, Frederic Bastiat, Richard Cobden, and Herbert Spencer—was consistent in opposing state power in all spheres, both international and domestic.

We all know the timeless account of the Salem Witch Trials. At least I believed that to be the case, along with countless other historical affirmations of what fear and ignorance can achieve with the swipe of a pen. The late 17th century town of Salem, Massachusetts devolved into authoritarian madness, not because of witches, but because of fear.

It’s one thing for the current primary resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to refer to others in subhuman terms for rhetorical purposes. It’s quite another thing to treat them as such. No, the following isn’t about immigration policy—it’s about the dehumanizing act of imposing tariffs.

In seeking to understand why nations go to war, we often search for rational motivations such as the quest for money, or power, or territory, or that most elusive of goals—justice. But the truth is that often there is no reason behind descent into war other than the hostility and animosity between one nation and another. 

[Robert Nozick by Ralf M. Bader (Continuum, 2010, xii + 136 pp.)]

Ralf Bader—a distinguished Swiss philosopher and authority on Kant—wrote an excellent guidebook to Robert Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia (ASU) in 2010, and in this week’s article, I’d like to discuss some of Bader’s central arguments.

On the Joe Rogan Experience, and in a recent discussion with James Lindsay, Jordan Peterson warned of “dark tetrad” psychopaths on social media–individuals with Machiavellian traits who opportunistically adopt ideas and play power games.

A Gallup survey taken in March this year found only 46% of Americans expressed support for Israel (the lowest level in 25 years of Gallup’s annual tracking).

Some economists hold that one cannot trust the market economy, which is seen as inherently unstable. If left free, the market economy could lead to self-destruction. Hence, there is the need for the government and the central bank to manage the economy. Successful management, in this way of thinking, is done by influencing overall spending.