“I’m the one who destroys the state from within.” “The state is a criminal organization.” “Taxation is theft.” “The state does everything wrong.” These are just a few of the many anti-statist (or anarcho-capitalist) lines uttered by Javier Milei, who—after breaking the barriers of respectable political discourse and becoming a congressman in 2021—won the presidency of Argentina in 2023.

Last week the world narrowly escaped likely nuclear destruction, as the Biden Administration considered Ukraine’s request to allow US missiles to strike deeply into Russian territory. Russian president Vladimir Putin warned, as the request was being considered, that because these missiles could not be launched without the active participation of the US military and NATO, Russia would consider itself in a state of war with both NATO and the US should they be launched. It was a Cuban Missile Crisis on a massive scale.

Remember when government officials sanctioned orgies but insisted it was too risky to permit children to attend classes to learn how to read?

During the pandemic, New York City Covid Czar Jay Varma championed endless government restrictions and lockdowns to keep people safe. But, at the same time, he attended sex parties and a dance party, indulgences that made a mockery of everything he preached to New Yorkers. 

The Federal Reserve decided to cut rates by 50 basis points despite what Chairman Powell considers “no risk of a recession or downturn,” a “solid economy,” and a “strong job market.”

After ignoring the impact of monetary aggregates and the warning signs of inflation, the Federal Reserve has breached its price stability mandate for three consecutive years, preferring to prioritize liquidity injections, i.e., printing money, to the recovery of the currency’s purchasing power.

Some have argued that new technological ideas, unlike material inputs and labor, are not in themselves scarce. Consequently, it is further argued that new ideas for more efficient processes and new products can make continuous economic growth possible. So-called experts, however, are of the view that in a fully competitive environment, firms are likely to be concerned that competitors are going to copy any innovations they introduce.

Various justifications have been advanced by those removing or destroying Confederate monuments to explain why they deem it necessary to dismantle the Confederate heritage.

If it is portrayed as a war crime; genocide—the methodical, malicious murder of the many—can be dismissed as incidental to battle; a mere case of, “Oops, bad things happen in war.” You hear the last phrase all the time from Israel’s supporters, as they gush their enthusiasm for the state’s crimes.

The genocide-as-a-war-crime conceptualization provides cover and lends imprimatur for criminals and criminality. You mitigate and minimize genocide when you call it a war crime.

The third Star Trek series—Deep Space 9—is set on a distant space station-city. The producers had to be creative with the scripts because they are not visiting “strange, new worlds” all the time. In season 3, episodes 11 and 12, titled “Past Tense” they dealt with—thirty years ago in the mid-1990s, mind you—with the US homeless problem of their distant past, set in our future of late August of the year 2024. The script rings all too true of our present situation regarding homelessness, poverty, technology, and government. Very prescient.