A forthcoming “NASA study” that predicts medium-term collapse has gone viral on the Internet, based entirely on Nafeez Ahmed’s advance writeup for The Guardian (“NASA-funded study: industrial civilisation headed for ‘irreversible collapse’?,” March 14). To start with we should note, just in passing, that it turns out not to be quite a “NASA study” after…

If you oppose mass incarceration, you should oppose empire. If you oppose imperialism and militarism, you should oppose the prison state. Empire and incarceration are two related institutions of brutal state violence, and they are mutually reinforcing. A new article by my friend Henia Belalia argues that immigrants’ rights should be understood in a context…

Joel Schlosberg discusses how privacy and sausages are unlike laws. Patrick Cockburn discusses the road from hell in Syria. JP Sottile discusses drones. Ryan McMaken discusses crony capitalism and the transcontinental railroads. Justin Raimondo discusses Israel and the conservative movement. Stephen Kinzer discusses the end of American hubris. Ted Snider discusses 21st century coups. Kenan…

C4SS Media presents Thomas L. Knapp‘s “The Problem Isn’t ‘Patent Trolls.’ The Problem Is Patents.,” read by James Tuttle and edited by Nick Ford. “Apple’s complaint, in its essentials, is that patent “trolls” just buy up patent “rights,” then search for infringement to cash in on, rather than going to the trouble of making real products. But why…

Recently US Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) attracted attention by calling for an all-out ban on Bitcoin, which he claims is not only “unstable and disruptive to our economy” but encourages “illicit activity.” If Manchin thinks any such law can actually be enforced, he’s delusional. His delusion illustrates a much broader phenomenon: The tendency of those…

This is the final part of a trinity of posts on Lynn Stuart Parramore’s recent Atlernet article called “3 Things That Make Libertarian Heads Explode“. The first two posts in the series dealt with selective contentions about her thoughts regarding the libertarian attitude towards inequality and public goods. This one is about her thoughts on…

The largest Tea Party organization in the U.S., Tea Party Patriots, recently celebrated its fifth anniversary with promises of redoubled efforts to balance the federal budget and pay down the national debt. Of course this would have the — presumably unintentional — effect of destroying capitalism as we know it. Corporate capitalism, since it coalesced…

Matthew Yglesias may be the most left-libertarian friendly liberal commentator out there. Not only is he unusually open to free market ideas, but he’s also repeatedly shown strong sympathies for open-source and post-scarcity approaches to economic organization. In fact, he’s practically built his brand around setting himself against the two defining features of American liberalism…

Lynn Stuart Parramore recently wrote an Alternet article titled “3 Things That Make Libertarian Heads Explode“. She identifies three areas where our heads will supposedly explode. They are inequality, public goods, and regulation. She evidences no awareness of the existence of left-wing market anarchists or any other type of libertarian leftist. In her world, the…

Dit is zo’n tijd geweest waarin een reeks willekeurige, schijnbaar losstaande gebeurtenissen allemaal een algemene les voor mij hebben versterkt. Allereerst werd op 21 januari gemeld dat Canadese en Amerikaanse veiligheidsdiensten—Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), de Mounties, de FBI, Homeland Security, en provinciale, staats- en lokale politie—nauw hebben samengewerkt met Enbridge, TransCanada en andere energieleveranciers…

Shamus Cooke discusses Obama’s far right foreign policy. Cory Massimino discusses the relationship between liberalism and libertarianism. Patrick Cockburn discusses how war has changed. Brian J. Trautman discusses endless war. Casey Given discusses how the anti-gay bills are not libertarian. Dave Lindorff discusses the U.S. lecturing of Russia about international law. John Bew discusses the…

De acordo com seu próprio relatório e com o que disse o colunista do Washington Post Howard Schneider (“Communists Have Seized the IMF“, 26 de fevereiro), o Fundo Monetário Internacional aparentemente amenizou sua posição sobre o “redistribuição de renda”. Isso, porém, é falso. Tanto o relatório do FMI (“Redistribution, Inequality, and Growth“, IMF Discussion Note…

Wie opkomt voor vrijheid steunt vreedzame en vrijwillige uitwisseling tussen mensen en strijdt tegen gewelddadige beperking van deze uitwisseling. Het hoeft echter niet direct te betekenen dat een systeem van vreedzame, vrijwillige uitwisseling “kapitalisme” genoemd hoeft te worden. Er zijn uiteraard sommigen die vinden dat dit overduidelijk is wat “kapitalisme” betekent. Ik kan ook niet…

Julia Angwin (“Has Privacy Become a Luxury Good?”, The New York Times, 4 de março) relata as dificuldades enfrentadas pelas pessoas que tentam manter a privacidade de seus dados. Embora os indivíduos possam comprar bens e serviços para esse fim, seu alto custo diminui sua utilidade e disponibilidade. Não são produtos caros apenas no sentido…

Dahr Jamail discusses the civilian deaths caused by the Iraqi government siege of Fallujah. John B. Judis reviews Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama. Brittney Wheeler discusses why liberty doesn’t need politics. The LA Times editorial board discusses why the embargo on Cuba should be ended. Karen J. Greenberg discusses 5 issues…

By its own recent report’s framing and that of the Washington Post’s Howard Schneider (“Communists Have Seized the IMF,” February 26), the International Monetary Fund has apparently gone soft on “redistribution.” But that framing is wrong. Both the IMF report (“Redistribution, Inequality, and Growth,” IMF Discussion Note SDN/14/02, February 2014) and Schneider’s write-up of it conflate “redistribution”…

Julia Angwin (“Has Privacy Become a Luxury Good?” New York Times, March 4),  describes the difficulties faced by people trying to maintain the privacy of their personal data. Although an individual can purchase goods and services for the purpose, high cost mitigates their usefulness and availability, not only in the monetary sense but in the amount of…

California is in its third year of a severe drought. Some scientists believe this will be the driest year in the last five hundred. Among other measures for dealing with the water shortage, the state has announced it will not provide subsidized irrigation water from dams this year. The large-scale capitalist agriculture model touted by…

Justin Raimondo discusses the censoring of Twitter by the Venezuelean government. Greg Grandian discusses slavery. Kelly B. Vlahos discusses the Afghan election. Lenni Brenner discusses Zionist outreach to Nazi Germany. Jacob Sullum discusses myths surrounding meth. Jim Naureckas discusses media coverage of Venezuela. Patrick Cockburn discusses the long war in Syria. Mariame Kaba and Erica…

Charles R. Larson discusses the grotesqueries of Iraq. David Swanson discusses the use of Nazi scientists by the U.S. Franklin Lamb discusses getting aid into Homs. Laurence M. Vance discusses ending the American empire. Matt Welch discusses the drug war. Shihka Dalmia discusses closed border policies. William D. Hartung discusses arm sales. Robert Fisk discusses…