“Money is often described as neutral, technical, or merely instrumental — a passive medium facilitating exchange within an otherwise political society. This view is not only mistaken; it is profoundly misleading. Money is the hidden constitution of every political order. It determines which actions are possible, which institutions survive, which risks are rewarded, and which failures are forgiven. While constitutions proclaim rights and legislatures debate policy, money silently governs outcomes. For this reason, the structure of a monetary system is never merely economic. It is moral, political, and civilizational.” (01/15/26)
“Remember the outrage from the left when Elon Musk and the DOGE crew uncovered all the fraud in the USAID program? Billions of our tax dollars going to leftist causes after being laundered through so-called non-profits. These were ‘charities’ in the most basic and legal sense, but they were really partisan organizations using our tax dollars to advance a progressive agenda around the world. While USAID spread money overseas, much the same scam is happening in the domestic ‘charity’ world, too. When I started at the Heritage Foundation in 2001, one of the first things I was told was that I was NOT to do anything even remotely political on their computers or during work hours. In the Clinton administration, Heritage had been audited nearly every year by the IRS – surely just a coincidence and NOT the early stages of Democrats weaponizing government, right?” (01/15/25)
“Liberalism has always had its critics. But in 2018, Patrick Deneen went a step further: he declared liberalism a failed project — and explained how in Why Liberalism Failed. Since then, multiple obituaries for liberalism have been written, and Postliberalism, which calls for a replacement of the liberal order that shapes the West, has become a formidable movement on the right. Nevertheless, as if it had never heard a report of its own demise, liberalism endures today as a political order, political philosophy, and a way of life. Yet Deneen is not the first to give a failing grade to liberalism.” (01/15/26)
“Gresham’s Law isn’t about greed or bad behavior. It describes rational decision-making under fixed rules. When people are given the option to spend weaker money or save stronger money, they do what makes sense. The outcome isn’t a flaw in character — it’s a predictable response to incentives built into the system.” (01/15/26)
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone
“Is there anything more undignified than ‘leftists’ and ‘anarchists’ who cheer on the fall of empire-targeted governments even as the empire moves war machinery into place? Ooh look at me I’m sticking it to the man by supporting the same agendas as the US State Department. I’m being punk rock by regurgitating the same war propaganda talking points as John Bolton. I’m fighting the power by backing the foreign policy objectives of the most powerful empire that has ever existed. Fucking embarrassing, man. If you want to have a serious political outlook it is necessary to have a more layered understanding of the world than ‘tyranny bad,’ because as westerners we ourselves are ruled by the most tyrannical power structure on earth.” [editor’s note: If you want to have a serious political outlook, it is necessary to have a more layered understanding of the world that “US regime bad, so every other festering sewer of a regime good” – TLK] (01/15/25)
“Any politically knowledgeable person who does not accept that Republicans are in serious trouble for the 2026 midterm elections is sleepwalking past the meaning of a series of 2025 elections. In 10 elections going back to April — ranging from state battles such as Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race to the special election in Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District — the Democratic nominee ran at least 10 points better than the Democratic nominee in the previous race for that seat. It gets worse for Republicans. … Republicans will continue to court electoral disaster so long as President Trump continues to govern for his MAGA base — a very loud minority of the electorate, not a majority — and ignores the middle of the political spectrum. Until Trump accepts that, Republicans are behind the political eight ball.” (01/15/26)
“In what appears to be a rolling back on free speech and citizen journalism, Britain is fast-tracking a law that will ban non-consensual intimate deepfake images. This is likely aimed at the social media site X.com after its AI assistant Grok allegedly generated inappropriate images. In the scope of the global news cycle and a further ban potentially on the table, the move couldn’t be more poorly timed. It coincides with social media bans in socialist Tanzania and a sweeping Internet blackout by the Ayatollah of Iran. While Britain is not Iran, the direction of travel – using information control to manage dissent – bears uncomfortable similarities. Brits are justifiably worried: Is this the nail in the coffin of Britain’s free speech?” (01/15/26)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Pedro Urso
“The persistence of underdevelopment in Latin America cannot fully be explained solely by external factors, colonial legacies, or unfavorable cycles in the international economy. While these elements have played a significant role throughout history, it has become increasingly evident that the main obstacles to the region’s sustainable development lie in the fragility, capture, and dysfunctionality of its institutions. If the countries of this region intend to break with its history of low growth, inequality, and instability, the first step is to correct their political, legal, and economic institutions.” (01/15/26)
“Donald Trump may, of course, be the Republican candidate for president in 2028, the U.S. Constitution notwithstanding. Although it is clearly written in the 22nd Amendment that ‘no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice’, it may well be a majority vote of the Supreme Court that determines whether that applies to Trump. In the past, that court has gotten around the Constitution without a single word of it being changed. Rather, its judges have let an innovative interpretation prevail. In 1896, for instance, in Plessy v. Ferguson, the court ignored the unambiguous language of the 14th Amendment that demanded ‘equal protection’ and so upheld racial segregation by creating the fiction of ‘separate but equal’. It would take 58 years before that lie would be overturned.” (01/15/25)
