Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by David Brady, Jr.
“Raimondo spent much of his time polemicizing on the latest intervention abroad, but, in 2011, he wrote two articles ‘Why Governments Make War’ and ‘Looking at the Big Picture’ wherein he articulates his theory of libertarian realism. He juxtaposes his theory with traditional realism, that emphasizes the supposed interests of broad states, liberalism, which promises perpetual peace in the tradition of Immanuel Kant, and Marxism, which sees all conflicts as products of the capitalist class structure. Libertarian realism looks to domestic political pressures and influences to inform it on the reason why a state’s foreign policy looks the way it does. If Nobel Prize winner James Buchanan characterized his public choice theory as ‘politics without romance,’ then Raimondo’s realism is international relations without romance.” (11/23/25)
“So, Marjorie Taylor Greene is resigning. I’ll admit, I wouldn’t have seen this coming. But when I read her announcement, it made sense to me. Here are some thoughts: Greene was an ardent MAGA figure. She was with Trump from the beginning. Yet, when she didn’t follow the agenda 100%, she was cast aside. This shows us that, for many, loyalty to Trump is still more important than principles – even if it involves transparency as the world’s most notorious sex trafficker.” (11/23/25)
“Over the weekend, representatives of the United States and Ukraine met in Geneva for talks that were ‘highly productive,’ according to the White House. On the table now is a draft 28-point plan that represents a solid business deal for Ukraine. This plan is no victory for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He didn’t get Ukraine or eliminate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. ‘Something good just may be happening,’ former President Donald Trump said Monday morning. The loss of territory in the Donbas region is painful and tragic. Unfortunately, Russia still has enough missiles to pummel Ukraine’s cities and energy infrastructure for years. It is a daily humanitarian disaster. This war must end — for America’s sake, too. Since 2022, it has unleashed global geopolitical chaos, with China bankrolling Russia’s invasion and Putin reportedly trading nuclear weapons design secrets for North Korean ammunition and soldiers.” (11/24/25)
“Israel has violated the shit out of this so-called peace deal. The only thing that’s really changed is that Hamas is no longer firing back and that was the real point behind that theatric signing ceremony on the Senai Peninsula. Neither Israel nor Hamas were even present for the shindig at Sharm El-Sheik. The papers were signed by Qatari Emir Sheik Tamin Bin Hamad al Thani and Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan; Hamas'[s] two largest foreign financiers, along with Pharoah Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, who polices Gaza’s western borders. The real deal was for those thugs to agree to pressure Hamas into giving up just so long as Israel allows them to share in the profits of the resort Donald Trump plans to build on the graves of 5% of the Strip’s Population.” (11/23/25)
Source: David Friedman’s Substack
by David Friedman
“In controversies on global warming, one issue that keeps coming up is whether it is anthropogenic, whether the world getting warmer is our fault. So far as I can tell, the question is almost entirely irrelevant to the controversy, reflects a confusion between moral and practical arguments. Suppose the cause of global warming is not human action but changes in solar activity or some other external factor. Suppose also that the consequences of global warming will be catastrophic. Finally suppose that there is something we can do to prevent global warming, say raising the albedo of the earth with orbital mirrors, high altitude pollution, or whatever. Isn’t the argument for doing it precisely the same as if we were causing the warming? Hence isn’t ‘whose fault is it’ an irrelevant distraction?” (11/23/25)
Source: The Peaceful Revolutionist
by David S D’Amato
“Where primitive societies understood power and thus sought to preempt it and foreclose political domination, our modern societies obsess about and worship power. This bad habit puts our lives and those of our children and grandchildren at risk, and it makes movement in the direction of a free society almost impossible. This is among the many reasons we ought to be deeply disturbed by and uncomfortable with standard political taxonomies such as left vs. right, liberal vs. conservative, etc. These binaries lead to shallow and confused analysis because they do not even attempt to understand the structural realities driving today’s states. These frameworks don’t know how to talk about or understand the relationship between the state and capital or the development of authoritarian power during the modern era.” (11/23/25)
“Federal prosecutors have filed a new indictment in response to a July 4 noise demonstration outside the Prairieland ICE detention facility in Alvarado, Texas, during which a police officer was shot. There are numerous problems with the indictment, but perhaps the most glaring is its inclusion of charges against a Dallas artist who wasn’t even at the protest. Daniel ‘Des’ Sanchez is accused of transporting a box that contained ‘Antifa materials’ after the incident, supposedly to conceal evidence against his wife, Maricela Rueda, who was there. But the boxed materials aren’t Molotov cocktails, pipe bombs, or whatever MAGA officials claim ‘Antifa’ uses to wage its imaginary war on America. As prosecutors laid out in the July criminal complaint that led to the indictment, they were zines and pamphlets. Some contain controversial ideas — one was titled ‘Insurrectionary Anarchy’ — but they’re fully constitutionally protected free speech.” (11/23/25)
“[S]olving problems is hard, and in politics, it often involves taking on well-organized constituencies that will wave away the smoke and insist that everything is just fine. So institutions often choose to disregard the underlying issues and simply whack the alarm with a hammer until it stops beeping. There has been a lot of that going on recently, most notably in education. Instead of rectifying disparities in preparation and achievement, people decided it would be simpler to adjust the measurements.” (11/23/25)
“As many of you know, at People’s Action we have been thinking about and preparing for this moment for some time. Our 2023 report, The Antidote to Authoritarianism, issued a call to develop a shared playbook of the most effective tactics to stop the rise of an authoritarian regime. We have now done this, and are moving into action. Twenty national organizations endorsed our original call for an Organizing Revival. That number has since swelled to more than sixty, and more than four hundred state and local organizations, all across the country and in every state. Together with these partners and new friends, such as the May Day Strong alliance, we have trained more than 1,200 organizers across the country and are training more every day, so we can defend democracy while we still can. We welcome anyone who wants to join us.” (11/24/25)
