Elites will never be stripped of their privilege by the method of their ascension. The impoverished will never stop being robbed of their potential by handing it over to new elites. The decision by the majority of voting British citizens to leave the European Union has been seen as a mandate against unaccountable technocratic governors…

I see there’s another upcoming installment in The Purge series of films — a franchise whose basic premise is that there’s one night each year in which all crime is legal and police and rescue services are unavailable, setting the scene for lots of dramatic action footage of terrified people barricading themselves in their houses…

On April 30th, Father Daniel Berrigan, an anti-war activist, Jesuit priest, author, and poet, passed away at the age of 94. Since the Vietnam War, Father Berrigan spoke bravely against American imperialism. But his opposition to US military interventions abroad went beyond speech. Father Berrigan bravely and repeatedly engaged in direct action to resist America’s…

After the terrorist violence in Brussels many people, including Barack Obama, said we should not change our way of life and live in fear because that is what terrorists want. Maybe, but is that all they want? It seems that something important is left out of the story. In the classical model of terrorism, instilling fear…

Americans can sleep easier now that the US military has wiped out 150 more “terrorists.” US airstrikes over Somalia targeted al-Shabab militants, who were, according to Pentagon spokesperson Captain Jeff Davis, planning “offensive operations.” Davis neglected to elaborate on what “offensive operations” were planned by the group. He did say that they had been monitoring…

In questo periodo la gente canta canzoni che parlano di pace e bene. Negli Stati Uniti, purtroppo, alle canzoni corrispondono scarse riflessioni. Altrimenti gli americani sarebbero in piazza a chiedere al presidente Obama di spegnere la macchina da guerra. E ripudierebbero quegli aspiranti presidenti, ovvero i principali candidati dei maggiori partiti, che difendono i fondamenti…

It’s the time of year when people sing about peace and goodwill. Unfortunately in the United States, too little thought accompanies the nice words. Otherwise Americans would be in the streets demanding that President Obama shut down the war machine. They would also be repudiating every presidential candidate who endorses the fundamentals of America’s criminal…

Cos’hanno in comune Barack Obama e Donald Trump? Fra l’altro, il fatto che non sanno, o fingono di sapere, perché i musulmani ci odiano. Trump dice (stavo per scrivere “crede”, ma non so se esiste qualcuno, compreso Trump, che sappia in cosa crede) che i musulmani dovrebbero essere tenuti alla larga dagli Stati Uniti finché…

What do Barack Obama and Donald Trump have in common? Among other things, they have — or pretend to have — no clue why some Muslims hate us. Trump says (I almost typed believes, but I’m not sure anyone, including Trump, knows what he believes) Muslims should be barred from the United States until “until…

L’atteggiamento isterico riguardo lo Stato Islamico ora incentra l’attenzione sui rifugiati che cercano di sfuggire alla violenza in Siria e Iraq. Prevedibilmente la camera dei deputati, a maggioranza repubblicana, ha deciso ieri di incrementare i controlli sulla vita dei potenziali rifugiati: una pretesa di onniscienza che si traduce in esclusione. Ma il progetto di legge…

A histeria em relação ao Estado Islâmico agora se volta aos refugiados que buscam fugir da violência na Síria e no Iraque. Previsivelmente, o Congresso dos Estados Unidos, controlado pelo Partido Republicano, votou um aumento da verificação de antecedentes dos potenciais refugiados — uma necessidade de onisciência que equivaleria à exclusão. O projeto, contudo, enfrenta…

The Problem of Political Authority: An Examination of the Right to Coerce and the Duty to Obey, by Michael Huemer (Palgrave McMillan – 2012) Whether anarchy is good or not isn’t important. It’s whether it’s comparatively better than the alternatives. Or at least that’s what Michael Huemer begins arguing in chapter eight of The Problem…

Hysteria over the Islamic State is now focused on the refugees seeking to escape the violence in Syria and Iraq. Predictably, the Republican-controlled House yesterday voted to increase background checks on potential refugees, a demand for omniscience that would amount to exclusion. The bill faces trouble in the Senate, however, and President Obama, who wants…

A huge sign outside a local tire store really irritated me a couple of weeks ago. Its large letters blared: “WE SUPPORT THE TROOPS.” I was tempted to get out of the car and demand that the owner tell me what he was actually doing besides displaying the sign, which probably didn’t cost much in…

The Financial Times recently reported that Nobel Peace Prize recipient Barack Obama has conducted ten times more drone strikes than his predecessor George W. Bush. As far as we can tell, that number is somewhere in the ballpark of 500 strikes and spans a wide array of countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia…

C4SS Feed 44 presents Chad Nelson‘s “Selective Hearing in the War on Terror” read by Joey Clark and edited by Nick Ford. “Michael Scheuer, Former chief of the CIA’s bin Laden Unit, said about bin Laden: “[he] is remarkably eager for Americans to know why he doesn’t like us, what he intends to do about it and then…

James W. Ely Jr. discusses a book on classical liberalism and the Constitution. Brian Doherty discusses a book on Somalia. Robert Fantina discusses militarism abroad and police violence at home. Andy Piascik discusses the Vietnam War. Peter Maass discusses why Bergdahl should suffer more than the generals who did worse. Rpbert Parry discusses the NYT…

Watching Fox News’s recent coverage of the Islamic State’s Twitter-hack left me shaking my head in disbelief, as usual. The latest act alleged to have been carried out by IS is the group’s takeover of several Twitter accounts belonging to the wives of US military servicemen. Among the threatening tweets issued by IS through the hacked…

Today, American politicians of both major parties — conservatives, “moderates,” and so-called liberals alike — insist that the United States is an “exceptional,” even “indispensable” nation. In practice, this means that for the United States alone the rules are different. Particularly in international affairs, it — the government and its personnel — can do whatever…

Apenas hay palabras para expresar el dolor y el disgusto causados por las ejecuciones del editor, los caricaturistas y otras personas – diez en total – el miércoles en el semanario satírico francés Charlie Hebdo. Dos policías también resultaron muertos y otras once personas resultaron heridas por los tres fanáticos que según se informó declararon…