Source: EconLog
by Pierre Lemieux
“Humans have a tendency to obey political authorities even when it may not seem in each individual’s self-interest to do so. Nationalism is a modern manifestation of this phenomenon. After the US government’s strike on nuclear facilities of the Iranian government, there is little doubt that nationalism or tribalism will lead a large number of Americans and Iranians to rally behind their supreme leaders more blindly. … What happened on June 21 was not literally ‘a US strike on Iran’ or ‘America’s strike on Iran,’ as everybody repeats, but a strike of the US government on the assets of the Iranian government—including possibly on its claimed human assets, what is called collateral damage. Tragically, I fear, we can go a bit further: it was more a strike of Donald Trump and his minions on the claimed assets of Ali Khamenei and his minions.” (06/24/25)