Author: Thomas L. Knapp

The Ark and the Deluge: The Unfurling of Equality in World History

Source: Liberal Currents
by Guillaume AW Attia

“Democracy for Tocqueville meant many things, but first and foremost it meant the equalization of social conditions. To say that the world was undergoing a ‘democratic revolution’ was to say that the old hierarchies of power based on birth and ancestral status were dissolving and more undutiful relations were taking their place. He described this visible process of change as the ‘gradual unfurling of equality,’ a slow unraveling of the layers of dogmatic control in human societies, that had progressed over many centuries, ‘surmounting all obstacles, and which is still advancing today amid the ruins it has caused’ in Europe.” (09/30/26)

https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-ark-and-the-deluge-the-unfurling-of-equality-in-world-history/

Thomas L. Knapp

Maintaining Journalistic Integrity Through Mutualization

Source: Independent Institute
by Robert E Wright

“For 30 years, the internet has stripped middlemen out of the news business. Classified ads fled to Craigslist, readers fled to search engines and social media, and writers fled to Substack and like platforms. The history of journalism reveals the next step and how to avoid potential pitfalls. As in finance, the disintermediation of journalism has mostly been good for customers, journalists, and the pursuit of Truth. Readers get more solid news, and writers do not have to submit to corporate pressures to say X (yay for vaccines!), or not say Y (yay for Ivermectin!). Disintermediation has a cost, though, and the one- and two-person nano-journalism shops pay it every month.” (09/30/26)

https://www.independent.org/article/2026/09/30/journalistic-integrity-mutualization/

Thomas L. Knapp

Publisher’s Note: You Know What This Is About

Hey, everyone …

Yes, it’s “year-end fundraiser” time again. We keep our appeals limited to the occasional “we’re reader-supported” reminder nine months out of the year, but starting each October 1 we set a goal and hammer you every dang day with that goal until we make it.

The bare bones:

1) You can, and should, support the freedom movement’s daily newspaper at:

https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd

2) Our goal this year is $5,503, and reader GL has pledged to “match funds” for half of that, meaning we only need to raise $2,751.50 from the rest of our readers!

3) Once we’ve reached the goal, we’ll stop talking about money ENTIRELY for the rest of the year, and MOSTLY for the first nine months of NEXT year.

As for trivial asides:

Why $5,503? Well, last year it was $5,501. I didn’t want to raise the goal TOO much because I know inflation hits you as hard as it hits us, so I just escalated to the next prime number (I have a thing about prime numbers).

How long have we been doing this? As Rational Review News Digest, for 24 years as of this coming December 23. As Freedom News Daily, since 1994. And before that was Libernet, dating to 1991, making us the libertarian movement’s oldest and longest-surviving daily Internet news and commentary roundup.

So, again: Please support us, based on your assessment of how much value you find in our work, at …

https://news.rationalreview.com/support-rrnd

… and have a great day!

Yours in liberty,
Tom Knapp
Publisher
Rational Review News Digest / Freedom News Daily

Thomas L. Knapp

TN: Prisoner survives two attempts by state employees to kill her

Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]

“Christa Pike, convicted of murdering a classmate three decades ago, has survived Tennessee’s effort to [kill] her ⁠by means of lethal injection, prison officials said. Her lawyers said late on Wednesday that she had been taken away from the prison in an ambulance and was being treated at a hospital, but they said they had not been told about her condition. Officials gave Pike two doses of pentobarbital, her lawyers said in court filings. Journalists who witnessed the attempted [killing] described snoring, ⁠loud exhales, gasps and complaints from Pike about pain, as well as her kicking her feet so often that she knocked off the sheets laid over her, according to NBC News. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said in a statement that he has ordered ‘a comprehensive, third-party review to determine exactly what occurred’ and that the remaining scheduled [prisoner killing] will not take place this year.” (10/01/26)

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/1/us-supreme-court-clears-way-for-christa-pikes-execution-in-tennessee

Thomas L. Knapp

Friedrich Hayek Predicted Donald Trump

Source: Libertarian Institute
by Angel Monaco

“The recent escalations in Donald Trump’s rhetoric and imagery have reignited intense debate among clinical psychologists and political analysts regarding the mental framework of such leadership. At the core of Trump’s actions is a pattern of grandiosity, characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance and a need for constant admiration. … So how did the United States end up with Donald Trump as its leader? From the perspective of economist Friedrich Hayek and the Austrian School, certain factors create a movement that makes the trade-off for a leader like Trump feel not only rational but necessary.” (09/30/26)

https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/friedrich-hayek-predicted-donald-trump

Thomas L. Knapp

Ukraine: Russian strikes kill seven in biggest energy attack in months

Source: The Guardian

“Russia has unleashed a widely anticipated air campaign against Ukraine’s energy grid, hitting power facilities and infrastructure ⁠around Kyiv and other regions in the ⁠heaviest combined attack on energy sites in ​months. The strikes on Wednesday, in which Ukrainian officials said seven people were killed, came after days of intensifying drone barrages primarily on the capital, a prelude to what many Ukrainians expect to be a winter of attacks intended to plunge cities into cold and darkness while Ukraine is short ⁠of air defences. State power grid operator Ukrenergo said it had imposed emergency power cuts as a result of the attack in Kyiv and three surrounding regions – the first time such a measure had been imposed in the capital since the spring.” (10/01/26)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/01/ukraine-war-briefing-russia-pounds-power-grid-with-seven-killed-in-biggest-energy-attack-in-months

Thomas L. Knapp

The 1787 Constitution as Counterrevolution: America’s Thermidorian Reaction

Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Ryan McMaken

“Throughout much of the nineteenth century, and into the twentieth, the American Revolution had often been framed according to the ‘neo-whig’ narrative in which the American Revolution was very non-radical, and represented a sort of conservative revolution which, because of its lack of radicalism, differed from virtually every other revolution in the past several centuries. This narrative was revived and promoted by conservatives in the 1950s who sought, as a Cold War measure, to discourage revolution of all types, and to foster greater support for the American regime. Yet, some historians have argued otherwise, including Rothbard. … Russian historian Aleksandr Fursenko explored the debate over whether or not the new Constitution of 1787 was in line with ‘the Spirit of ‘76’ or if it represented a counterrevolution against the ideology behind the Declaration of Independence.” (09/30/26)

https://mises.org/mises-wire/1787-constitution-counterrevolution-americas-thermidorian-reaction

Thomas L. Knapp