Essays

Too Big To Fail Is Now Bigger Than Ever Before

"Ever since the financial crisis of 2008, our politicians have been running around proclaiming that they will not rest until they have fixed 'the too big to fail problem', but instead of fixing it those banks have rapidly gotten even larger. We are witnessing a consolidation of the banking industry that is absolutely stunning. Hundreds of smaller banks have been swallowed up by these behemoths, and millions of Americans are finding that they have to deal with these banking giants whether they like it or not. These banks have been unbelievably reckless, but when they fail, we will all pay the price." Continue reading →

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Paul Craig Roberts: Pakistani National TV Reveals Osama Killing Hoax

"Who can believe that the 'terror mastermind,' the head of what is said to be the most dangerous terrorist organization in the world, would be left alone, unguarded and unarmed, with only two women to protect him? Who can believe that such a defenseless person with such essential information for Washington’s war on terror would simply be shot on sight by US Navy SEALs? Why would Washington waste such an archive of information? Why would Washington forego the triumph of parading their captive before the world and confronting him in a courtroom with his crimes? Why would Washington dump the body secretly into the sea without even having photographic evidence?" Continue reading →

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Withdrawing Consent Means More Than It May Seem

"Withdrawing consent does not mean being anti-social. Just the opposite. Going toward a natural order and society of life, freedom and property is the natural law alternative to the state and its artificial legalistic order. Withdrawing consent can go much deeper than these changes. It can mean seeking out the underground economy, homeschooling, leaving the country, and avoiding the mainstream media interpretations. I have the faith that the natural order of life, freedom and property is going to prevail eventually without using violence and that the state will some day be viewed as a perverse aberration based on false ideas." Continue reading →

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Beyond Civil Disobedience

"In his book, Don’t Get Mad, Get Even, George Hayduke wrote, 'The one thing the establishment is prepared for is a violent frontal attack. They may be pure lard inside, but they’ve got twenty-four inches of armor plate in the front.' We have to avoid attacking them the way they expect to be attacked. They expect marches, and protests, and voting, and civil disobedience, and even a violent uprising. That’s behavior they’re prepared to deal with, but there’s lard on the other side of that armor. Never attack an enemy the way they expect to be attacked. Thats the way the Lego Underground should operate." Continue reading →

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Why I Charge $1,000 For An Hour Of My Time

"As an entrepreneur, fighting small charges such as bank errors or late payment fees simply isn’t worth your time. If you have a finance or office manager whose hourly rate is less than the amount of the erroneous charge, then it makes financial sense for that person to spend time resolving the issue. If that isn’t the case, it’s better just to let it go. The bottom line? The more you can avoid fighting based on principles, the better: It just isn’t worth it. When your time is worth $1,000 an hour, it’s often best to turn the other cheek." Continue reading →

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Why the Higher Education System Is Unsustainable (i.e. Doomed)

"That which is unaffordable is unsustainable and will go away. The current system of higher education is profoundly unaffordable: it exists on an immoral foundation of student debt--$560 billion of which is Federal. Enormous expansions of student debt are required to keep the current system of higher education afloat. This chart shows the insane trajectory of Federal student debt. But unaffordability is only one reason why the present system of higher education is unsustainable. Despite the good intentions and hard work of individuals, these systems are broken. Due to their size and structure, large systems such as national defense, healthcare and education limit the impact of individual initiative." Continue reading →

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The Million Man Market

"Next time someone tries to gather a million people on the National Mall, let’s organize Lemonade Freedom activists, Raw Milk activists, Bitcoin enthusiasts, Silver bugs, Gold bugs and Agorist of all sorts to go to Washington DC and sell stuff to them. I’m talking about the most massive free market flash mob we’ve ever seen. Let’s feed the march. Lets sell them t-shirts, and buttons, and ice cream, and stickers, and whatever else anybody thinks will be a hot selling item. Let’s set up 10,000 new Bitcoin wallets. Let’s set up a whole guerrilla counter-economic conference, and let’s profit doing it. The political organizations will provide the customers. Let the Agorists provide everything else." Continue reading →

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Austrian Theory Explains and Exposes Booms and Bubbles

"The problem of the business cycle arises when the loan rate of interest diverges from the natural rate of interest. While this divergence could happen in a free banking system, the major divergence occurs under central bank regimes when large reductions of the interest rate are executed by injecting money into the banking system over a long period of time. A larger volume of loans is thereby made possible. The lower interest rate increases investment and consumption and reduces savings. These changes in the economy provide the conditions for a boom in the economy. If the new funds are funneled into a specific sector of the economy, a bubble could result." Continue reading →

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Minimum Wage Madness

"Switzerland is one of the few modern nations without a minimum wage law. In 2003, 'The Economist' magazine reported: 'Switzerland’s unemployment neared a five-year high of 3.9 percent in February.' In February of this year, Switzerland’s unemployment rate was 3.1 percent. A recent issue of 'The Economist' showed Switzerland’s unemployment rate as 2.1 percent. Most Americans today have never seen unemployment rates that low. However, there was a time when there was no federal minimum wage law in the United States. The last time was during the Coolidge administration, when the annual unemployment rate got as low as 1.8 percent." Continue reading →

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10 investing insights from Street Smarts by Jim Rogers

"If you were an investor and become a millionaire or even a billionaire by the age of 37, what would you do? Are you considering kicking your heels up, relaxing in your new mansion while looking ahead to a future of recreation and fun? Maybe you go the other direction. Resting with riches might be as lifeless as a phone booth. Perhaps you could create a lifelong journey, over the course of which making the whole world your backyard. You might be inspired to literally ride a motorcycle around the world, observing and learning about the planet earth while doing so. Maybe you’d be inspired to chronicle the journey, turn it into a benchmark for global investing, and then do it all over again." Continue reading →

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