Sheldon Richman

I agree with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. I’ve never written those words before. But on Oct 24, Guterres said to the UN Security Council (emphasis added): The situation in the Middle East is growing more dire by the hour. The war in Gaza is raging and risks spiraling throughout the region. Divisions are splintering societies. … Continue reading “When History Didn’t Begin”

“We” – to be precise, U.S. policymakers and their quasi-private-sector, tax-nourished enablers-beneficiaries – must not police the world, become directly involved in wars, covertly assist belligerents, or act as arms merchants and bankers. The central government can’t be a benign policeman, even if its intentions were as stated (which they may be): international rules-based order … Continue reading “Don’t Police the World”

Alas, federal District Judge Terry A. Doughty’s preliminary injunction against government censorship of us on social media has been put on hold. So rules three members of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. But this stay of the injunction in State of Missouri et al. v. Joseph R. Biden Jr. et al. is temporary. NBC … Continue reading “Shame on Government for Censoring Us”

The Biden administration, along with mainstream politicians and journalists, are really upset that U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty has forbidden the executive branch of the central government from communicating with social-media platforms for the purpose of censoring or otherwise suppressing constitutionally protected speech. Judge Doughty’s action came in an important free-speech lawsuit filed against … Continue reading “Free Speech Upsets Powers That Be”

Occasionally, the news makes one cheer. That’s the case with a preliminary injunction granted this week (July 4) to stop the federal government from suppressing lawful speech on social media. U.S. District Court Judge Terry A. Doughty took the action in the case of State of Missouri ex rel. Schmitt, et al. v. Joseph R. … Continue reading “Good News on Free Speech — for Now”

In an extra special way, foreign policy matters crucially to champions of individual liberty. Not that it doesn’t matter to other people too – just not in all the same ways. Anyone who understands the importance of keeping government power strictly limited in domestic matters (if such power must exist at all) will also grasp … Continue reading “Foreign Policy Matters”

The word that strikes fear in the power elite is China. It’s not fear of an existential threat; rather it’s fear that America is becoming second fiddle in world politics. As a result, some believe, or say they believe, that war with China is inevitable. For them, that’s a fancy word for desirable. Here’s an idea: … Continue reading “Let’s Not Go to War With China”

An older generation of Americans, including Jewish Americans, admire the colonists who resisted the British king and parliament in the late 1700s. Jewish Americans go further and admire the Judeans who revolted against the Greeks and Romans (twice) in antiquity. So isn’t it peculiar that they do not applaud the similar Palestinian resistance to Israel’s … Continue reading “Hear, O Israel – Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”

By now Randolph Bourne’s observation that “war is the health of the state” ought to be such a cliché that it would hardly need to be said. And yet, it must be said – often – because many still haven’t gotten the word. If the state is the adversary of liberty, as it nearly always … Continue reading “The Scourge of Conscription”

Collective security, the official goal of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, seems plausible on its face. A group of nations ostensibly concerned about a common threat agree to defend one another in the event of an attack. “All for one and one for all,” as the Three Musketeers said. But like many things, the … Continue reading “NATO and Collective Insecurity”