With Trump’s recent declaration that construction of a border wall between the united states and Mexico is to begin immediately, many are left wondering how to respond. Such a wall, while being a seemingly insurmountable task to construct and practically ineffective, would not only cause diplomatic issues (indeed, it already has) but also environmental issues….

If you didn’t already hear, Vermin Supreme was recently inaugurated as President of the United States on January 20th, 2017 and the celebrations couldn’t have been more festive. Tens of thousands of people or more showed up to show their support with fireworks, musical performances, cannabis, campfires, and more. But there was another man trying…

In a recent commentary at The Future of Freedom Foundation, Richard Ebeling celebrates the “triumph of free trade” in 19th century Britain (James Mill, David Ricardo and the Triumph of Free Trade,” Jan. 23). As Ebeling frames it the British political elite, under the influence of classical liberal economists like Mill and Ricardo, realized that…

The sun has not yet set on Donald Trump’s first week as President of the United States, and already he has made good on several major campaign promises. He has signed executive orders that pave the way for the forceful restructuring of the ACA, begin construction on both the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines,…

On the libertarian Right — including Reason, the magazine for “free minds and free markets” — you hear a lot of lip service to opposing something called “crony capitalism.” And they periodically trot out the Ex-Im Bank or federal insurance for beach homes as their standard throwaway examples. But for the most part they love…

A recurring theme in recent commentary on the Dakota Access Pipeline is that it’s becoming an increasingly high-risk investment, and that all the political controversy and uncertainty in the news surrounding the pipeline will result in investor flight — in the end, leaving the unfinished pipeline as a “stranded asset.” In the specific case of…

There’s a lot of disagreement in American politics — from Berniecrats, to the centrist neoliberal establishment, to right-libertarians, to nationalist reactionaries like Trump and his followers — on TPP and other trade agreements. But there’s one thing they all agree on: calling it “free trade.” And they’re all wrong. At Reason (“The Neoliberal Era is…

As I’ve argued many times, there are plenty of reasons why people who believe in human freedom and free markets should oppose so-called “right-to-work” laws. And University of Arkansas Professor Michael Pierce, in a recent article for Labor Online (“The Origins of Right-to-WorkVance Muse, Anti-Semitism, and the Maintenance of Jim Crow Labor Relations,” Jan. 12),…

Former Nestle CEO Peter Brabeck is famous for denying that access to drinking water is a human right. But based on the company’s actions, its management seems to believe that Nestle Corporation has a human right to free water. All over the world, including in some of the most destitute and water-poor countries on earth,…

The cultural Right was in a furor recently — whether sincere or feigned — first over Drexel University Professor George Ciccariello-Maher’s Christmas Eve tweet that “All I Want for Christmas is White Genocide,” and then over Drexel’s Dec. 29 decision not to fire him. The real outrage, though, is that Drexel wasted both Cicciarello-Maher’s time…

On the Open Manufacturing Google Group, an email list for people interested in open-source industrial design and commons-based peer production models for physical production, Nathan Cravens raised the question of why peer-production of physical goods has had such a hard time gaining traction as an alternative to the corporate capitalist model: Open source projects seem…

Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war in the Phillipines is unique in its policy of extrajudicial murder of all drug dealers and users. It’s as much a cleansing of one’s population as any genocide. Still, I think Americans should understand that the logic underlying Duterte’s drug war isn’t dissimilar to ours. Once you’ve declared a “war” on…

Peace on Earth and goodwill to all — in a world of conflict, ’tis the season of peace. A season of peace it is. Thankfully my family and friends are safe, happy and (mostly) together. I greatly enjoy the Christmas/holiday season. Winter has arrived in my scruffy town of Knoxville, Tennessee. The weather is cold….

Reports of sexual abuse of youth footballers by their adult coaches continues to rock Britain, especially since the list of incidences and clubs involved continues to grow. It is crucial that instances of paedophilia be brought to the forefront, and the enabling role played by compulsory education examined. Children are the most oppressed peoples in society and they continue, most…

President-elect Donald Trump’s recent call for a year’s prison term or loss of citizenship for those who burn the American flag – incidentally a reversal of Trump’s previous support for flag-burners on the Letterman show two years ago – leaves me with some questions. Four questions, specifically: two for Trump’s conservative supporters, and two for…

You’re probably aware that Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson — just as you’d expect from a former ExxonMobil CEO — is a big fan of fracking and pipelines. He’s a big fan of them with one exception. He’s joining a lawsuit to prevent a fracking operation next to his wife’s $5 million…

For reactionary populism to win, it needs to tell stories about a golden past and about a future that can be great if old values are recovered and given strength. For liberty and tolerance to win, we need to tell a better story than our opponents. Against those throwing out truth and reason for comforting…

As you might have predicted, the incoming Trump regime is hostile to labor unions. In fact Raymond Hogler, professor of management at Colorado State University, predicts that Trump’s policies — including packing the National Labor Relations Board, appointing anti-union Supreme Court justices, and encouraging right-to-work laws — will be a “fatal blow” to organized labor…

The land remaining to America’s First Nations, after centuries of robbery and genocide, currently stands at the roughly 2% of U.S. territory enclosed within reservations. Now Trump’s incoming crew wants to “privatize” (loot) it (Valerie Volvovici, “Trump Advisors Want to Privatize Oil-Rich Indian Reservations,” Reuters). The fact that this two percent of the land may…

Reading the news, you might get the impression that oil and natural gas pipelines are something people are fighting in faraway, thinly populated places like North Dakota. But the issue — and negative consequences — are probably a lot closer than you think. The Atlantic‘s CityLab tabloid (“30 Years of Oil and Gas Pipeline Accidents,…