Now that the final movie in the series is out, we know. "Hunger Games" is not just a popular movie series for young adults, a fantasy tale about about a young girl's heroism. It is far more sophisticated than that. It is a political allegory, the best known of our time, about power and the complications of its displacement.
In this way, it covers the same intellectual terrain as Aristotle's Politics, Machiavelli's The Prince, and de Jouvenel's On Power, but in a way that is more ... (more)
The problem with America's "anti-ISIS coalition" is not a matter of poor planning or a lack of resources. It is not a matter of lacking leadership or military might. The problem with America's "anti-ISIS coalition" is that it never existed in the first place. There is no US-led war on ISIS, and what's worse, it appears that the US, through all of its allies, from across the Persian Gulf to Eastern Europe and even within Washington itself, are involved in feeding ISIS, not fighting it. ... (more)
Over the past few days, we've been highlighting the fever pitch with which the surveillance state apologists and their friends have been trampling over themselves to blame Ed Snowden, blame encryption and demand (and probably get) new legislation to try to mandate backdoors to encryption.
These were the words written on a sign, held up by a citizen in a mass rally in Paris, the day following the ghastly slaughter of innocents. The rally itself took place in defiance of the nighttime curfew that had been instituted by the French government (the first since 1944). This curfew came with other methods of control such as a border closure (again, first time since WWII), tanks on the streets, and a de facto end to free movement and assembly. <... (more)
Do men need to check their privilege? Gender activists tell us that men carry around with them an invisible knapsack of advantage. Well, is this true and is it the whole story? AEI Scholar Christina Hoff Sommers checks the facts.
Terrorism is great for business if you’re in the business of growing the government leviathan. The bodies in Paris are not yet buried, while the vultures with dollar signs (and pounds and Euros, etc) in their eyes have already swooped down for a feast.
Terrorism, what is it good for?
1) The military-industrial-Congressional complex: Thanks to Glenn Greenwald for bringing to light the enormous profits that are already rolling in for the merchants... (more)
The terrorist attacks carried out in the heart of the French capital, either coincidentally or intentionally, have served as the perfect point of leverage for the West on the very eve of the so-called "Vienna talks" regarding Syria.
With its serendipitously strengthened hand and with France taking a more prominent role, the West is attempting to reassert not only its narrative, but its agenda regarding the ongoing conflict in Syria, an agenda that has – as of late – been derailed ... (more)
“ISIS is certainly not a state” said Obama in a recent statement. This is the official line Western governments use to describe ISIS. The label terrorist is often used to describe dangerous and aggressive organizations. However, these characteristics are not used to describe organizations that don’t threaten the strategic interests of states that dominate the international community.
When French President Francois Hollande declared this week that France is "at war," this could only possibly have been news to people who weren't paying attention. Of course, France is at war. France has been bombing foreign targets for years, and making war in numerous locales across the globe.
One of the purposes of last week's terrorist attacks was to inflict casualties on the Fren... (more)
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." - Hermann Goering, German military commander and Hitler's designated successor
Cultural Marxism enjoyed a victory last week when University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe resigned after members of the Missouri Tigers football team joined a student movement calling for his resignation. While I fully support the rights of these players to leverage their athletic ability to advocate a cause — as I would support their university if it decided to pull their scholarship — what is concerning is the actual list of demands shared by the cause they joined.
"Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny. It's the only one. It's based on thousands of years of human experience. There is nothing narrow about the conservative philosophy. It's a liberating philosophy. It is a magnificent philosophy. It is a philosophy for the ages, for all times." ~ Mark Levin
"I realized that conservatism was the philosophy that best suited me, with its emphasis on individual liberty, personal responsibility, and merit." ~ Mark Levin
The horrific attacks in Paris on Friday have, predictably, led to much over-reaction and demands that we do more of the exact things that radicalize people and make them want to attack us. The French military wasted no time bombing Syria in retaliation for the attacks, though it is not known where exactly the attackers were from. Thousands of ISIS fighters in Syria are not Syrian, but came to Syria to overthrow the Assad government from a number of foreign countries — including from France and t... (more)
I had a dream the other night, that I was president of Loyola University, and faced with the challenges that confronted Tim Wolfe, the now ex-president of the University of Missouri. But don’t get worried: I have no intention of taking up any such office; it would interfere with my research, writing and publication. In any case, I am not sure Loyola is quite ready for a Jewish atheist as its leader.
In any case, what would I do if I were in Mr. Wolfe’s shoes? Here are the demands... (more)
This talk was delivered at the Mises Circle in Phoenix, AZ, on November 7, 2015.
Whether we’re talking about illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America, or birthright citizenship, or the migrants coming from the Middle East and Africa, the subject of immigration has been in the news and widely discussed for months now. It is an issue fraught with potentially perilous consequences, so it is espe... (more)
Westminster Abbey, nearly a thousand years old, is my favorite stop in London, which I've visited so many times now that I've lost count. Each time I walk through the main entrance, my eyes are drawn immediately to the left because of the imposing statue of a man I deeply admire: William Ewart Gladstone, a devoted friend of both British and American liberty and the greatest of all British prime ministers.
Today, the name Gladstone adorns towns, parks, schools, and many buildings a... (more)
French people are being methodically executed in droves, helpless to defend themselves due to civilian disarmament and forced to wait for militarized SWAT teams to protect them, but the nation "knows how to defend itself," says president François Hollande.
There is little question that individual liberty and economic stability have taken a beating during the past fifteen years. Most state institutions, from the Supreme Court to local governments, have been active in diminishing our traditional freedoms. CSIS and other alphabet soup spy agencies now intrude into our personal lives in order to categorize our threat levels. We are given no choice but to fund the murder of foreign citizens through endless, unjust wars. We can only watch while the ... (more)
The highly effective Russian operation in Syria has clearly exposed the real position of the West, along with the ties it has with international terrorist groups.
As is already known, the so-called Western coalition, created by Washington more than a year ago has been "effectively fighting" terrorism in Syria and Iraq. What are the results? Desert areas with no terrorists to be found anywhere have been heavily bombed, at the same time, terrorists are regularly acquiring weapon due... (more)
The United States and the Republic of Korea have drastically altered their military plans towards North Korea by shifting their central focus from preparation of a large-scale direct confrontation to swift localised subversive actions, reported the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun on October 5, 2015. According to the newspaper, while previously the United States and the Republic of Korea (RK) were considering a full-scale ground war, the "sudden provocations from the North, which have been takin... (more)
