In the fall of 2016, I was a left communist. As any Marxist can tell you, ideology can blind one to the insights that might disrupt one’s political adhesions. Only it was Marxist ideology itself that blinded me.
The creation and enforcement of fiat money enables larger and more centralized government. Large government programs become possible that were not possible or sustainable under a market-chosen, sound money standard.
The Federalists employed all the tricks: from delaying the postal delivery of Antifederalists' pamphlets to waging a propaganda war in the press. The Federalists also did their best to limit suffrage only to groups likely to vote for ratification.
There is no place in a free society for a government that sues private citizens for defamation. But even between private parties, defamation suits are often used by the powerful to silence others.
Many factors help explain the rise of the West, including both decentralization and the embrace of laissez-faire. But Europe's unusual pattern of family formation is also a likely and important factor.
Corporate America—from Facebook to Google to Major League Baseball—got rich by giving the consumers what they want. Now these big firms will use their riches to crush their ideological enemies. That's life in a "mixed economy."
After centralizing political power in the presidency to a level unfathomable to most Americans, the nationalists had succeeded, and the new Constitution was ready to be sprung upon an unsuspecting country.
