Source: The American Conservative
by Ted Galen Carpenter
“U.S. administrations even have a long history of discouraging America’s technologically capable, firmly democratic allies from crossing the nuclear weapons threshold. Washington has not been shy about pressuring (if not outright bullying) Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan to foreswear building independent nuclear weapons capabilities instead relying totally on the United States for deterrence. A similar hostility has been directed toward any manifestations of interest in a nuclear deterrent by Germany and Washington’s other European allies. At the very least, it is time for U.S. leaders to review that rigid policy and carefully reconsider its various implications. Japanese who want their country to reduce or eliminate its total dependence on the United States for nuclear deterrence are not being reckless or unreasonable, given the realities of today’s regional and global security environments.” (12/27/25)
“All major American professional sports have a time of year when they capture the eyes of the nation. America’s pastime, baseball, has the ‘Fall Classic,’ the NFL dominates Thanksgiving, and the country has an entire weekend dedicated to the Super Bowl. Christmas Day is the NBA’s time to shine with action from noon to midnight (though the NFL tries to get in on the action). When Americans tune in to watch Lebron James and Kevin Durant battle it out on the court, they usually aren’t thinking about the referees, but it’s impossible to play without them.” (12/26/25)
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“Opponents argue that even the best legal system sometimes makes mistakes and that a system that sometimes makes mistakes ought to limit itself to mistakes that can be corrected. Letting a wrongfully convicted defendant out of prison is easier than bringing him back from the dead. The irreversibility of the death penalty is good rhetoric but bad argument.” (12/26/25)
“Libertarian advocates of minimal government, such as the late Robert Nozick (Anarchy, State, and Utopia, 1974), have feared that individuals in a stateless libertarian society would face corrupt or careless protection firms that used ‘risky’ rights-enforcement procedures to determine guilt or liability. Innocent people might be held responsible for offenses they did not commit, while guilty individuals avoid paying restitution to their victims. Obviously, that would be undesirable. Without a minimal monopoly state to prohibit such abuse and protect ‘procedural rights,’ how could innocent people pursue their happiness securely?” (12/26/25)
What Samuel Johnson said of Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ can be said of 2025: No one ever wished it longer. As this year slinks offstage, remember some memorable moments: Cracker Barrel stumbled into crisis when many Americans who have too much spare time became enraged because the restaurant chain deleted from its logo an elderly man in overalls. … Elon (‘I’m not just MAGA, I’m dark gothic MAGA’) Musk’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), which never existed (actual departments are created by Congress), went out of existence after streamlining the government, which you might not have noticed. … The president decreed that the Gulf of Mexico is the Gulf of America. In 1945, Manhattan’s Sixth Avenue was renamed Avenue of the Americas. Has anyone ever called it that? … New York elected a socialist mayor (‘free’ buses and child care and lots of other stuff).” (12/26/25)
“Quick review: the Greek forces had besieged the walled city for a very long time but failed to breach its walls. So they appeared to be abandoning the effort and sailing away. But only after constructing a great wooden horse, some kind of tribute to the gods. When they sailed away, the seemingly victorious defenders of Troy came out and decided that the huge wooden horse was a suitable victory monument and dragged it into the city. Of course, the Greeks had filled the body of the horse with a squad of elite warriors. … Today, various companies, institutions, and government agencies are playing a kind of game very similar to the Trojan Horse scam. A correspondent, Bob Malone, reminded us of this recently. It is called the ‘subscription economy,’ and it is a direct application of that evil Regressive claim that ‘in the future we will own nothing, and be happy about it.’” (12/26/25)
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes
“In Brussels, we have witnessed a scene that has become increasingly common: protests by European farmers marked by escalating hostility, including burning tires and clashes with police. This discontent is the cumulative reaction to a process that has dragged on for more than 25 years, and is now being pushed toward completion under conditions that are deeply damaging to European farmers. Some invoke the benefits of free markets, and, under normal circumstances, these do indeed offer the best outcomes for both producers and consumers. The problem is that between European farmers and producers from Mercosur—a trade bloc that includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay—the market can never be truly free, because farmers in each bloc operate under fundamentally different regulatory conditions.” (12/26/25)
“here was a time when debates about determinism and free will belonged to philosophy departments and late-night dorm room conversations. They were enjoyable precisely because they seemed harmless. Whatever the answer, life went on. Courts judged, doctors decided, teachers taught, and politicians were still — at least nominally — held responsible for their actions. That era is over. Artificial intelligence has transformed what once appeared to be an abstract philosophical question into a concrete issue of governance, power, and accountability. Determinism is no longer merely a theory about how the universe works. It is becoming an operating principle for modern institutions. And that changes everything.” (12/25/25)
“The Christmas season is a time to reflect on what we have, which includes the kind of society that has made countless blessings possible. The warmth, security, and generosity that many Americans experience during the holidays are not accidents or pure gifts of nature. In their tangible sense, they are the products of a long and extraordinary period of economic growth — one that has expanded opportunity, reduced hardship, and given moral ideals room to breathe. History shows quite clearly that the societies most capable of generosity and liberalism are not those trapped in poverty but those that have escaped it. An abundance of wealth does not corrupt moral life; it enables it. Economic growth is not a rival to our highest values. It’s a precondition to their most vigorous pursuit.” (12/25/25)
