Essays

Shares in Incorporated Co-op Cities Might Be the Next Big Thing

"Those who own property in a city—houses and businesses, say—probably come the closest to qualifying as its shareholders, but they do not own undivided interests in the city as a whole. Perhaps then we should not be surprised that, like unowned property everywhere, many cities suffer looting, abuse, and neglect. How can we improve this state of affairs? Here, as elsewhere, the public sector can learn from the private sector about how to tap the power of shared equity. Two lessons, in particular, bear our attention: Workplaces resemble cities and worker-owned businesses thrive." Continue reading →

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The Blow That Killed America 100 Years Ago

"'There is a lot of ruin in a nation,' wrote Adam Smith. His point was that it takes a long time for nations to fall, even when they’re dead on their feet. And he was certainly right. America took its fatal blow in 1913, one hundred years ago; it just hasn’t hit the ground yet. This is a slow process, but it’s actually fast compared to the Romans. It took them several centuries to collapse. For all the problems America had prior to 1913 (including the unnecessary and horrifying Civil War), nothing spelled the death of the nation like the horrors of 1913. Here are the key dates." Continue reading →

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IMF Historian Whitewashes The Soviet Spy Career Of The Fund’s Founder

"President Harry S. Truman’s efforts to keep secret the FBI’s investigation of FDR official Harry Dexter White’s illegal activities was the reason why White never became managing director of the Fund – and indeed the reason why the tradition of a European heading the Fund, rather than an American, began in the first place. What Truman, and indeed the FBI, had been unaware of in 1946 was that intercepted wartime Soviet intelligence cables would establish White’s culpability. Decrypting of such cables, part of the top-secret 'Venona Project,' took place over many decades, and the first one mentioning White’s activities was not known to the FBI before 1950." Continue reading →

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A Nation Unhinged: The Grim Realities of “The Real American War”

"Turse’s book reminds us that the primary 'tragedy of Vietnam' was not that America somehow 'lost its way' in fighting an ill-advised war but rather that the war itself was a series of criminal acts perpetrated by the US government on the Vietnamese people. My characterization may sound strident to many today. Most Americans at the time certainly would have disagreed with it. Yet as the war dragged on, the number who recognized the war’s criminality grew inexorably. If you don’t already know the reason, Kill Anything That Moves will show you. And if you already do, this book will remind you why we must never forget what our country did to Vietnam." Continue reading →

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How Old Were the Founding Fathers?

"While famous paintings of our America’s Founding Fathers typically portray them as middle-aged or older, most were actually much younger than we tend to think during the founding of the nation. Todd Andrlik, in a post for the Journal of the American Revolution, compiled the ages of the Founding Fathers on July 4, 1776, and the results may surprise you. For instance, Benjamin Franklin, at 70 years old, was more than twice as old as Declaration of Independence author Thomas Jefferson, at 33 years old. Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, who would later go on to write the Federalist Papers, were just 21, 25, and 30 respectively." Continue reading →

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Has your life been stolen from you by the IRS?

"This stupid witch hunt which people inside the U.S. think is going after the uber rich 'off shoring' in 'tax havens' has done more to harm low and middle income 'targets' than anything I’ve seen them do down there in a long time. The comment by President Obama last week that they are paying to fix their infrastructure by 'repatriating taxes' is a LIE, it’s NOT 'taxes' It is fines and fees and penalties on paperwork nobody ever heard of outside the U.S. for the most part and they know it. If it were taxes it would even come close to being enough, as according to American Citizens Abroad, 82% of expats would owe zero taxes." Continue reading →

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Stop-and-Frisk: How Government Creates Problems, Then Makes Them Worse

"Ask yourself why after so many decades of apparent failure — drugs are plentiful, accessible, and inexpensive — prohibition persists, as if spending more taxpayer dollars or coming up with some new law-enforcement gimmick will bring success. Maybe prohibition has not failed at all. Maybe the purpose is simply to spend the money and expand law enforcement. Maybe all the moralizing is simply a ruse. And maybe what Thomas Paine said about wars also applies to the war on drugs: 'a bystander, not blinded by prejudice nor warped by interest, would declare that taxes were not raised to carry on wars, but that wars were raised to carry on taxes.'" Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Thank You, TSA, NSA, FBI, and CIA!

"Respect for authority is cyclical. And presently, the authorities are enjoying an upswing. People look to them to get things they can’t get on their own. Health care paid for by someone else… a retirement they can’t afford… and foolish pride they don’t deserve. U.S. troops patrol the streets of towns we never heard of… American drones wipe out families we never met… the NSA listens in on the world’s conversations… Yes, thanks to the NSA, TSA, CIA, IRS, FBI, and Pentagon, no sparrow can fall anywhere in the world without it setting off alarms in America’s command centers." Continue reading →

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10 Geniuses Who Used Drugs — And Their Drugs of Choice

"Is intelligence related to an increased likelihood of recreational drug use? It's an interesting hypothesis, and one that's been gaining momentum in recent years. If a definitive link between intellectual capacity and drug use does exist, it will likely be some time before anyone establishes one. Having said that, this much is for certain: history has more than its fair share of experimenting experimentalists. Let's meet 10 of history's most influential scientific and technological visionaries, along with their drugs of choice." Continue reading →

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Drawing Down: How To Roll Back Police Militarization In America

"The damage inflicted by the country’s 40-year drug fight goes well beyond prisons. It’s also been the driving force behind America’s mass police militarization since at least the early 1980s, and the best way to rein in the trend would be to simply end prohibition altogether. Complete legalization is, of course, never going to happen. But even something short of legalization, like decriminalization, would take away many of the incentives to fight the drug war as if it were an actual war. The federal government could also leave it to the states to determine drug policy, and with what priority and level of force it should be enforced." Continue reading →

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