Author: Ryan McMaken

Whenever there is a mass shooting in the media, commentators rush to figure out on what to blame the latest violence. Predictably, those who want gun control blame gun control. Others blame mental illness — and perhaps a lack of government programs related to it. Some others blame racism or ideology, as was the case with the Aurora theater shooting when one ABC talking head concluded the shooter must a “Tea Party” member within hours of the shooting. And then there’s the Republican politician who blamed the same shooting on “the ongoing attacks on Judeo-Christian beliefs.” The odds of dying in a mass shooting remain … Continue reading →

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Swiss news site The Local reports that new laws taking effect this month will make it even more difficult for immigrants to obtain citizenship. It has apparently been established law for some time that immigrants collecting social benefits are barred from naturalization. The new law, however, now also prohibits naturalization if an applicant has accepted social benefits at any time during the previous three years. An exception is made if the benefits “are paid back in full.” On the other hand, applicants for citizenship now must only have resided in Switzerland for ten years instead of 12, as was the case before the new … Continue reading →

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One of Ayn Rand’s most notorious claims is that Europeans and their descendants were justified in driving Indian tribes off their lands because aboriginal Americans “did not have the concept of property or property rights,” and because they “wish[ed] to continue a primitive existence.” Rand also claims the Indian tribes had no right to the land they lived on because “they didn’t have a settled society,” and “had predominantly nomadic tribal ‘cultures.’” Rand even uses scare quotes around “cultures” to perhaps imply that Indian culture was not any type of culture at all. Today, many critics of laissez-faire liberalism (i.e., libertarianism) continue to quote these lines in order … Continue reading →

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When I was a student at the University of Colorado, I regularly walked by the Dalton Trumbo memorial fountain which was named after the communist Stalin-sympathizing novelist and screenwriter. Once upon a time, the fountain had been simply known as “the fountain,” but around 25 years ago, it was unnecessarily renamed after a controversial person. The reason for the renaming was the same as with any memorial or monument designed to honor a person or idea — to create an emotional connection and familiarity with the person or idea connected to the place; to communicate a certain view of history. The renaming of the fountain followed an earlier renaming … Continue reading →

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It’s no secret that in coastal cities — plus some interior cities like Denver — rents and home prices are up significantly since 2009. In many areas, prices are above what they were at the peak of the last housing bubble. Year-over-year rent growth hits more than 10 percent in some places, while wages, needless to say, are hardly growing so fast. Lower-income workers and younger workers are the ones hit the hardest. As a result of high housing costs, many so-called millennials are electing to simply live with their parents, and one Los Angeles study concluded that 42 percent … Continue reading →

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One of the nicer side effects of the 2016 election has been the trashing of the reputations of US intelligence agencies, specifically the FBI and the CIA. During the election, of course, it became apparent that there was some sort of tug-of-war within the FBI which led James Comey to first declare that no “reasonable” prosecutor would ever go after Hillary Clinton. Then, as election day approached, Comey came back and, contrary to the usual protocol, waged a PR war against Clinton, implying that this time, new evidence suggests she is, in fact, a crook. Naturally, the Democratic party has … Continue reading →

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There’s been little talk of gun control this presidential election cycle, although state-level proposals continue to make it onto state ballots. Gun control positions have come down along the usual partisan lines. It was clear from Clinton’s comments in the final presidential debate, for example, that she desires greater restrictions on access to firearms for private citizens. She expressed no such caution about weaponry carried by government employees, of course. While the candidates have declined to make gun control a central issue in the campaign, mainstream media outlets, academics, and pundits continue to press for greater government restrictions and prohibitions … Continue reading →

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Murray Rothbard was relatively fond of guerrilla warfare. He wasn’t fond of war, of course, which he considered to be synonymous with mass murder. But, he believed guerrilla warfare — conducted by non-state institutions — to be more morally legitimate than state-centric conventional warfare. Modern warfare, after all, is primarily the domain of states, and it’s the reason states have been so successful. As historians of the state such as Charles Tilly, Hendrik Spruyt, and Martin van Creveld, have long noted, the state is exceptionally skilled at warfare. It’s why the modern bureaucratic state has endured as long as it … Continue reading →

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The NSA was too busy spying on your family to stop the Orlando gunman. But why aren’t night clubs keeping tabs on people who walk in with rifles?  According to various sources, the gunman in Orlando’s Saturday massacre, Omar Mateen, was being investigated by the FBI. (See Judge Napolitano’s interview for more, here.) But, as was the case before 9/11, the FBI keeps such a long list of so many many people, that the list tells them nothing about who is a real threat. Meanwhile, we have been told countless times that the NSA should be able to spy on anyone … Continue reading →

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Last year, we covered a story coming out of Texas in which the state government was planning to institute a state-controlled “gold depository” that would allow individuals to store their gold in a presumably safe place outside the United States banking system. This proposition was met with emotionally-charged denunciations from Americans in far away northeastern American states where it was claimed this measure was contrary to the “supremacy clause” and just a terrible idea in general because it undermined faith in the US’s central government and the Federal Reserve System. Well, in spite of the disapproval of New Yorkers, the Texas legislature … Continue reading →

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During last Saturday’s GOP presidential debate, the candidates were asked if they would support mandatory registration for women with the Selective Service System now that women are allowed combat positions in the US military. The Selective Service, of course, is the federal agency that maintains a list of potential conscripts should the US government ever decide to reinstitute the draft. Most of the candidates applauded the idea while Ted Cruz denounced the notion. But, as is often the case, Cruz was right for the wrong reasons. Cruz seemed to base his reaction on sentimentalism and gender politics. He should be opposing … Continue reading →

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Those who wish to portray Ludwig von Mises as the “moderate” one, compared to the more radical Murray Rothbard, will often point out that Mises was no “anarchist.” This assertion, however, runs into trouble when we consider Mises’s comments in Liberalism on the topic of radical decentralization: The right of self-determination in regard to the question of membership in a state thus means: whenever the inhabitants of a particular territory, whether it be a single village, a whole district, or a series of adjacent districts, make it known, by a freely conducted plebiscite, that they no longer wish to remain … Continue reading →

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Lego — the company that makes stackable toy bricks — has become a toy powerhouse in recent years, even surpassing Mattel in toy sales during 2014. Lego has become so popular, in fact, that the company has problems avoiding “brick shortages.” Lego’s success has been helped along by the fact that — finally — Lego has managed to find success with girls. With the launch of the Lego Friends line, Lego has tapped into 50 percent of the child population: according to research firm NPD Group, the market for girls’ construction toys in the U.S. and the main European countries … Continue reading →

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It is common to see articles and columns in the Conservative media claiming that President Obama is engaging in “historic defense cuts.” There are claims that not in decades has the military ever endured such budget slashing. “Romney blasts Obama over military cutbacks” one headline blares. Upon closer examination of these claims, one notes that the authors are careful to never mention actual dollar amounts in context, or any meaningful historical context beyond single recent year-over-year comparisons. Most of these stories are careful to only mention military spending on certain projects, and never military spending as a whole. They look at troop … Continue reading →

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In this week’s debate, Bernie Sanders claimed that the United States has the highest rate of childhood poverty. CBS reports that Sanders said: “We should not be the country that has the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country and more wealth and income inequality than any other country,” As even CBS notes, according to UNICEF, which is probably the source of Sanders’s factoid, the US has lower childhood poverty rates than Greece, Spain, Mexico, Latvia, and Israel, all of which are OECD countries or regarded as peer countries. The US rate (32.2 percent) is also more or … Continue reading →