Most Americans think of Abraham Lincoln in hagiographic terms, the man who “saved” the United States from destruction. A closer look gives us a different picture of “Honest Abe.” David Gordon reviews a book that very much questions the Lincoln mythology.
Donald Trump’s proposals to annex Greenland, the Panama Canal, and/or Canada represent another ridiculous betrayal of the “America First” ideology he ran on.
In The Ethics of Liberty, Murray Rothbard conceptualizes “the defense of the rights of person and property” as the foundation of libertarian law.
Alexander Stephens's infamous “Cornerstone” speech remains controversial even today. The simple revisionist narrative is that the northern states opposed slavery while only the South supported it. Like all narratives, it leaves out important information.
Harry Jaffa suggested that Americans should adopt a “civil religion,” with Lincoln as a quasi-divine figure. This, of course, makes the state into a quasi-divine institution.
A modern misconception of antebellum slavery is that it “built the country.” Actually, the institution of slavery, economically speaking, was a deadweight loss to the US economy.
Progressives are openly cheering the murder of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. However, it was progressive legislation that created this healthcare crisis in the first place.
Since the end of the 19th century, much of US history has been marred by meddling in the affairs of other nations. From William McKinley's Spanish-American War to George W. Bush‘s invasion of Iraq, US meddling has created tragedy and chaos abroad and at home.
Passed in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment was intended to further centralize governance away from the old decentralized political model. It still is accomplishing that purpose.
