On Centralization, Decentralization, and Self-Defense10/20/2023 Hans-Hermann HoppeStates, regardless of their constitution, are not economic enterprises. In contrast to the latter, states do not finance themselves by selling products and services to customers who voluntarily pay, but by compulsory levies: taxes collected through the threat and use of violence (and through the paper money they literally create out of thin air). Significantly, economists have therefore referred to governments—i.e., the holders of state power—as stationary bandits. Governments and everyone on their payroll live off the loot stolen from other people. They lead a parasitic existence at the expense of a subdued “host population.”

A number of further insights emerge from this.

Naturally, stationary bandits prefer larger loot to smaller loot. This means that states will always try to increase their tax revenue and further increase their spending by issuing more paper money. The larger the loot, the more favors they can do for themselves, their employees, and their supporters. But there are natural limits to this activity.

On the one hand, the bandits have to be careful not to burden the “hosts” whose work and performance make their parasitic existence possible so much that the latter stop working. On the other hand, they have to fear that their “hosts”—and especially the most productive among them—will migrate from their dominion (territory) and settle elsewhere.

Against this background, a number of historical tendencies and processes become understandable.

read the rest: https://mises.org/wire/centralization-decentralization-and-self-defense

Mises Institute

On Centralization, Decentralization, and Self-Defense

Two guiding principles must be followed by small states and even more so by secessionist movements, whether leading to another, smaller state or a state-less territory (an anarchic social order):

The Supreme Court Found a Gun It Doesn’t LikeThe Supreme Court signaled again this week that it would allow the federal government to regulate so-called “ghost guns,” despite legal challenges. In an unsigned order on Tuesday, the justices blocked a lower court ruling that had prevented a rule by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives targeting prefabricated gun-building kits from going into effect. The move cements a significant setback for gun rights advocates who hoped the high court might be more favorable toward the kits.

Court watchers have closely monitored how the justices will tackle gun-related cases in general in recent years. Unlike most areas of the law, the court is often breaking new ground when it involves itself in gun-related cases. Thanks to the court’s rightward shift—as well as a recent ruling that created a new test for Second Amendment challenges—few legal issues are in as much flux before the court as this one.

Unlike most gun cases that reach the court, however, Vanderstok v. Garland is not a Second Amendment case. The plaintiffs instead asked the court to examine whether the ATF had correctly interpreted the Gun Control Act of 1968, or GCA, for its ghost-gun rule. The ATF issued a rule in 2022 that the GCA’s definition of a firearm “shall include a weapon parts kit that is designed to or may readily be completed, assembled, restored, or otherwise converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive.” The Biden administration hailed the change as a step in cracking down on ghost guns.

https://newrepublic.com/article/176320/supreme-court-ghost-guns-ruling

The New Republic

The Supreme Court Found a Gun It Doesn’t Like

Justices Roberts and Barrett joined the liberals to uphold federal regulations on so-called “ghost guns.”

The Best States for Gun Owners: Ranked for 2022Despite gun control being a central campaign issue for President Joe Biden, action at the federal level has yet to occur as of this report. In the wake of the tragic school shooting on May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas, that may change. As in most years, the impactful changes are happening at the state level. Thanks to our founder’s framework of democracy, each state chooses its own path in terms of most gun laws.

As Guns & Ammo does every year, each state is put into perspective by reviewing the gun-related policies. We then rank them accordingly for our annual “Best States for Gun Owners.” The difference between the lowest- and highest-ranked states is significant. In some areas, gun ownership is heavily regulated and culturally unpopular; safe and legal places to shoot are few. Elsewhere, state laws are accommodating, and the sight of a firearm is a non-issue.

https://www.gunsandammo.com/editorial/best-states-for-gun-owners-2022/463592

Guns and Ammo

The Best States for Gun Owners: Ranked for 2022 - Guns and Ammo

We've ranked every state in the Union, from worst to best. Where does your state land? Full rankings chart at the end of the list.

RFK, Jr., on the Ukraine and the Plot To Smear HimBy Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
August 7, 2023The news media controlled by the neocon elite want to destroy RFK, Jr. He tells the truth about the war in the Ukraine, which threatens to incinerate mankind. Even worse, from their point of view, he is popular and has a good chance to beat brain-dead Biden for the Democratic nomination. That would ruin their plans for world domination through unleashing wars against Russia and China.

Let’s look at what he says about the Ukraine war. Julia Hill, writing in The Hill, June 28, 2023, tells the story: “Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday said the United States’ role in the Russia-Ukraine war is “terrible for the Ukrainian people.”

“We have neglected many, many opportunities to settle this war peacefully,” Kennedy said in a live town hall event with NewsNation, moderated by Elizabeth Vargas. “I think the way that we have conducted the war is bad … is terrible for the Ukrainian people.”

The 2024 presidential candidate said he doesn’t know exactly what a negotiated peace would look like, or whether it would mean ceding Ukrainian territory to Russia. But he blamed decades of U.S. and NATO policy toward Ukraine and Russia for creating conditions for the war.

“We’ve turned that nation into a proxy war between — a pawn in a proxy war between Russia and the United States,” Kennedy said.

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/08/lew-rockwell/rfk-jr-on-the-ukraine-and-the-plot-to-smear-him/

LewRockwell

RFK, Jr., on the Ukraine and the Plot To Smear Him - LewRockwell

The news media controlled by the neocon elite want to destroy RFK, Jr. He tells the truth about the war in the Ukraine, which threatens to incinerate mankind. Even worse, from their point of view, he is popular and has a good chance to beat brain-dead Biden…

I enjoyed the Jones Plantation movie a lot.
I recommend watching it.
It is $10.00 for a forever license to watch on-line.
https://jonesplantationfilm.com/film/

Jones Plantation Film

Film - Jones Plantation Film

WE ALL LIVE ON JONES PLANTATION You can control a man with brute violence but you can never truly OWN a man until he’s convinced that your word is law, and obedience is a virtue. A film destined to be a cult classic, and at the forefront of American Dissident…

Original Article: "The Income Tax: Lessons from the Sixteenth Amendment"
Narrated by Millian Quinteros#Audio_Mises_Wire@Mises_Institute

Peter Schiff: The US Is In A Financial Crisis Worse Than '08

The elephant in the room with respect to inflation is the fiscal policy – the debt, not the ceiling – but the fact that we’re running these massive deficits. But until the Federal government reduces spending, these quarter-point increases are going to be completely ineffective.

Peter said the problem is Powell refuses to call Congress out and mention that the driving force behind all of the inflation is reckless government spending

And as long as the government keeps spending, inflation is going to get worse, and so is the current financial crisis. Nobody wants to admit we’re in a financial crisis. It’s worse than the one we had in 2008. It’s just getting started. Ultimately, the Fed is going to cut. But it’s going to cut as inflation is accelerating.”

https://youtu.be/9_D6DW_pZWU

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/peter-schiff-us-financial-crisis-worse-08

@OneStopPatriotNews

YouTube

US economy is in a financial crisis worse than 2008

Peter Schiff discusses the Jerome Powell, FOMC, interest rates, and the banking and financial crisis. Fox Business Claman Countdown w/ Liz Claman. Recorded 5/3/2023 #economy #banks #inflation ***💬*** Join my Locals community to get The Peter Schiff Show ad-free!…

The federal government is moving ahead with plans to confiscate nearly 11,000 so-called assault rifles from retailers left with thousands of unsellable firearms courtesy of Canada’s 2020 rifle ban. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/government-first-phase-assault-rifle-buy-back-program

National Post

Government rolls out first phase of so-called 'assault rifle' confiscation program

OTTAWA — The federal government is moving ahead with plans to confiscate nearly 11,000 so-called assault rifles from retailers left with thousands of unsellable firearms courtesy of Canada’s 2020 rifle ban.