This Friday, President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to sit down together in what will be the first face-to-face meeting between leaders of each country since the war in Ukraine broke out almost three and a half years ago.

For many, this is a long-overdue step towards bringing this war to an end. For others, it marks the dangerous and unnecessary return of a policy of “appeasement” that’s sure to prompt more invasions from Putin and other leaders that the US government does not back.

Trump plans a centralized military force for deployment against Americans. This is not a state-based National Guard force. It’s a de facto centralized army. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics head Dr. Erika McEntarfer is one of the latest persons President Trump has told “you’re fired.” President Trump said this month that he fired Dr. McEntarfer because the president believed she manipulated jobs data. Manipulations, he stated, include the updated May and June BLS numbers showing the U.S. economy created 258,000 fewer jobs than originally reported, as well as the weaker than expected July jobs report. All of this, the president suggested, was designed to make President Trump look bad.

“Hell is truth seen too late.”—Thomas Hobbes

“Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed.”—Étienne de La Boétie

It’s all your fault. You created jobs for robots, as you demanded that companies increase their efficiency in providing superior products and services. Companies responded to your demands sufficiently, driven by a positive response to consumer demands for efficiency. Companies introducing robots and machines is a clear example that there is no such thing as market failure—companies are doing what they are supposed to do: listening to consumer demand.

The literal meaning of coercion is of little philosophical use, as it could mean anything that anyone feels under pressure to do against his will. The word “force” is often used conversationally in that broad sense—“they ran out of the style I wanted, so I was forced to buy a different style.” During the covid lockdowns there were heated debates over whether people had been “coerced” into complying with the vaccination mandates as, predictably, those who enforced the mandates later claimed that no one was “forced” to comply.