“The ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ that the House of Representatives passed on May 22 includes a 3.5% tax on outbound remittance money sent primarily by immigrants to their families abroad. At first glance, this may seem like an easy way to generate revenue. But in reality, it’s a short-sighted, harmful policy that will hurt the very people who can least afford it, push money transfers into the shadows and ultimately damage the state and U.S. economy.” (06/25/25)
“We used to share the same lies. Now we each get our own. Soon, we may not even agree that reality exists. Reality has been shattered into billions of pieces, each one perfectly tailored to fit someone’s worldview. The same event triggers completely different movies in our heads. The same evidence proves opposite truths. We’re not just disagreeing — we’re living in different universes, each one feeling absolutely real to the person inside it. This didn’t happen by accident. Someone broke it. Someone profits from the pieces.” (06/26/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“There is nothing you can say to me that will make me stop opposing Israel’s western-backed atrocities. Call me an antisemite or a Nazi or any name you want. The name-calling stopped having any effect a long time ago. Babble about October 7 and Hamas and hostages all you wish. I’ve stopped listening to you. Pile on as many walls of text as you like explaining why it is actually fine and good to bomb hospitals and massacre starving civilians seeking aid. I ain’t reading all that, free Palestine. Regurgitate whatever the latest propaganda narrative is about Iran or the Houthis or Hezbollah or whichever new war Israel is getting ready to start this week. We both know it’s all lies. Parrot whatever’s the current hasbara slogan justifying Israel’s genocide in Gaza if you want to. Your words have no power here.” (06/26/25)
“Et voila! New York City’s mayoral race has been won by Zohran Mamdani, no Bernie Sanders-style imitator but the real thing — son of a famed socialist scholar and Marvel superhero to every Jacobin-reading, keffiyeh-wearing student activist huddled in Judean People’s Front-type confabs, between bell hooks readings and visits to Mom and Dad on the Upper West Side. In this country, it’s the most significant movement victory in a century, almost certainly presaging in the near future an epic clash at the summit of American politics between socialism and, well, anything else. As Michael Buffer would say, ‘Let’s get ready to rum-m-m-ble!'” (06/25/25)
“Missouri parents deserve real choices when it comes to their children’s education. Open enrollment — the ability for students to attend a public school outside their home district — is one of the most promising tools for expanding educational opportunity in the state. But unless open enrollment is universal, meaning every district must allow transfers in and out, it risks becoming an empty promise.” (06/25/25)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Well it’s been a crazy couple of days. Trump bombed Iran’s civilian nuclear energy facilities in an attack that CNN reports did no lasting damage, and Iran exercised extraordinary restraint with symbolic retaliatory strikes on US military bases coordinated to avoid American casualties — a move many are comparing to Iran’s non-lethal response to the US assassination of General Qassem Soleimani in 2020. After pumping out deception and fake diplomacy for weeks in order to assist Israel’s unprovoked war on Iran and launch an unprovoked attack on his own, Trump took to social media to proudly celebrate his administration’s facilitation of a ceasefire to the war he himself needlessly started, like an arsonist giving himself a trophy for extinguishing one of his own house fires.” (06/25/25)
“As a stampede of weasels just sought to con America into supporting another Mideast war, it is time remember America’s most underrated critic of bellicose folly. H.L. Mencken is famous for his smackdowns of politicians and ridicule of government and of much of American culture. But he also offered sage advice for citizens judging officialdom itching for carnage. … ‘Wars are not made by common folks, scratching for livings in the heat of the day, they are made by demagogues infesting palaces … The very unpopularity of war makes people ready to believe, when they suddenly confront it, that it has been thrust upon them … because their own demagogues have been pretending, all the while, to be trying to prevent it.” (06/25/25)
Source: ProSocial Libertarians
by Andrew Jason Cohen
“I realize the news media has to struggle to report on everything these days with some policies seeming to change daily, but I am nonetheless surprised and disturbed by the lack of reporting or commentary on the recent deal between Nippon Steel, US Steel, and the US federal government. It is, at the very least, a step toward nationalization of the United States steel industry. … The Republican Party hasn’t been a free market party in ages (if ever), despite claims to the contrary, so it’s not like the deal has Republicans giving up a part of their standard platform. But it is — or should — nonetheless be disturbing to everyone, especially libertarians.” (06/25/25)
“Many libertarians claim that morality is an objective, universal code that dictates right from wrong. They believe objective morality exists as a universal principle that applies regardless of personal beliefs, people’s cultures, or historical context. This view asserts that morality is fixed, binding on all people universally. In contrast, subjective morality argues that moral values are shaped by unique experiences, cultural norms, and human reasoning varying across time and space. I believe objective morality is contrary to libertarianism.” (06/25/25)
