Patrick McKnight
The Fed (and Central Planning) Are Fueling ...

By Doug French

Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, included ten planks required to create a socialist dictatorship. Number five on the list is “Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.” America’s Federal Reserve satisfies this requirement, especially the modern version, which grows exponentially in size, scope, and power, engineering financial repression “for governments to increase tax income and domestically-held debt.”1

While socialism continues to creep from university classrooms to replace once-upon-a-time laissez-faire in everyday America, opioid use has grown to be termed an epidemic.

The Fed (and Central Planning) Are Fueling Substance Abuse
Patrick McKnight
Why You Need F-You Money

By J.L. Collins

Those who live paycheck to paycheck are slaves. Those who carry debt are slaves with even stouter shackles. Don’t think for the moment their masters don’t know it.

Why You Need F-You Money
Patrick McKnight
Teachers Unions Are Bad for Teachers. Here’s Why

Rigid pay scales, high dues, lousy pension system: Membership has its privileges.

The New Jersey Education Association, the state chapter of the largest teachers union in the country, boasted more than 200,000 members and $154 million in revenue last year. You might think it focuses on helping teachers become more effective and making the public schools better—especially now, with more than 80% of the state’s districts still not offering full-time in-person instruction 13 months after the pandemic began.

Teachers Unions Are Bad for Teachers. Here’s Why
Patrick McKnight
Value Is Subjective: Neither Gold Nor Crypto ...

By Connor Mortell

A major hurdle to the adoption of bitcoin is that while the average person may be at least open to the idea that fiat money is not the ideal, they still struggle to see a difference between fiat money and cryptocurrency. And this lumping together is not just held to the average adopter but includes many brilliant household names such as Peter Schiff and Elon Musk. This widespread conflation of cryptocurrency and fiat currency comes from two vital misunderstandings: a lack of an understanding of what exactly fiat is and a lack of understanding of value’s subjectivity.

Value Is Subjective: Neither Gold Nor Crypto Have "Real Value"
Patrick McKnight
Understanding the Fed's Balance Sheet

By Robert Aro

The Fed’s balance sheet could easily be replaced with the phrase abracadabra; truly, there is little else in the world which works as magically as it does. Often cited, seldom understood, few seem to realize that as the balance sheet expands, so too does the power of this central bank at the expense of the entire nation.

Understanding the Fed's Balance Sheet

Murray Sabrin: Shutdown Has Unintended Consequences

Murray Sabrin: Shutdown Has Unintended Consequences

Regarding Mike Kelly's column, "More have died from COVID – 19 than in Vietnam," Opinion page, May 3. This is the most egregious non sequitur title I have ever seen in the nearly 40 years I've been a subscriber to The Record.

We can all agree that the coronavirus has taken a huge toll on the American people, especially in both New Jersey and New York. I am thoroughly confused what that has to do with the Vietnam War. The undeclared Vietnam War was President Johnson’s misguided – and immoral – military intervention that caused the deaths of millions in Southeast Asia, including the 58,000 Americans who died in the war.

The coronavirus, on the other hand, primarily targets the elderly with comorbidities, that is, individuals with underlying medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.

Ron Paul: The Federal Reserve Is More Deadly than Coronavirus

Ron Paul: The Federal Reserve Is More Deadly than Coronavirus

By Ron Paul

Last week the Federal Reserve announced it will keep interest rates at or near zero until the economy recovers from the government-imposed shutdown. Following this announcement, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell urged Congress and the Trump administration to put aside any concerns about the deficit and spend whatever it takes to stimulate the economy and combat coronavirus.

The Federal Reserve previously announced it would make unlimited purchases of Treasury securities, thus encouraging Congress and the president to increase spending and debt. With some members of Congress talking about another multi-trillion-dollar stimulus bill, and with President Trump proposing a two trillion dollars infrastructure plan as a way to get Americans back to work, it is obvious, and not surprising, that Congress and President Trump gleefully agree with Powell’s advice.

Fear, Government and Freedom

Fear, Government and Freedom

By Michael Rufo

COVID 19 is real and social distancing is the right idea, authoritarianism is not.

We as a society need to slow down, reflect and understand the harm we are creating which can, and will, be just as bad for society as a whole. This may ruffle feathers and hurt some feelings, but it hits at the core of the unintended consequence of government force. It is for this exact moment in time that I, and millions of liberty minded individuals across the country, are constantly relentless about even the smallest of human rights infringements.

What If We Had A Gold Standard System, Right Now?

What If We Had A Gold Standard System, Right Now?

By Nathan Lewis

For most of the 182 years between 1789 and 1971, the United States embraced the principle of a dollar linked to gold — at first, at $20.67/oz., and then, after 1933, $35/oz. Nearly every economist today will tell you that was a terrible policy. We can tell it was a disaster because, during that time, the United States became the wealthiest and most prosperous country in the history of the world.

This is economist logic.

On the Coronavirus and Constitutional Crisis

On the Coronavirus and Constitutional Crisis

By Lee Enochs

Like many Americans, I have been rocked to my very core due to this Coronavirus pandemic. Being placed on virtual house arrest here in California has not been pleasant to say the least.

While I know the health issues related to this contagion are deadly serious and I personally mourn for the loss of life and unparalleled devastation this has caused so many Americans, I believe another serious issue has arisen throughout the United States in respect to the loss of our civil liberties.

Carl Sagan's Eerie Prediction of America’s Future

Carl Sagan's Eerie Prediction of America’s Future

By Jonathan Miltimore

“I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time – when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.”

College Students Ditch Smartphones For A Week, Changed Their Lives

College Students Ditch Smartphones For A Week, Changed Their Lives

Dozens of students at Adelphi University, a private university in Garden City, New York, abandoned their smartphones for a week, it was part of a college course that would break the cycle of addiction of their dependence on technology, reported CBS NewYork.

CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff interviewed several students last week who were finally reunited with their smartphones.

Middle Class Death Spiral: Consumers Have Never Been In More Debt, And Bankruptcies Are Surging

Middle Class Death Spiral: Consumers Have Never Been In More Debt, And Bankruptcies Are Surging

By Michael Snyder

This wasn’t supposed to happen. During the relative economic stability of the past few years, the middle class was supposed to experience a resurgence, but instead it has just continued to be hollowed out. The cost of living has risen much faster than wages have, and as a result hard working families all over America are being stretched financially like never before. Even though most of us are working, 59 percent of all Americans are currently living paycheck to paycheck, and almost 50 million Americans are living in poverty. In a desperate attempt to continue their middle class lifestyles, many Americans have been piling up mountains of debt, and it has gotten to the point where we have a major crisis on our hands.

Amash Declares Independence from the GOP

Amash Declares Independence from the GOP

By Lee Enochs

While the 4th of July is supposed to be a time of celebration, I have to admit upon hearing the news today that libertarian-leaning Michigan Congressman Justin Amash is leaving the Republican Party, I became very sad.

I have been a Republican with Libertarian sympathies my entire life and greatly respect Congressman Amash and his stand for liberty and the Constitution.

Those who are looking for me to bash and trash Justin Amash today, have the wrong idea about me and are barking up the wrong tree.

The Liars We Trust – Why We Choose Transparency Over Truth

The Liars We Trust – Why We Choose Transparency Over Truth

By Robin Koerner

Many people who favorably view Donald Trump and politicians like him, talk up his “authenticity” or his “telling it as it is”. Even many of those who profoundly dislike his politics, his manner, or both, grudgingly admit to the appeal of his “what you see is what you get” quality.

Yet and at the same time, many of his supporters – and almost all of their opponents – simultaneously recognize the blatant falsity of many of his statements.

On the surface, there is a paradox. How can so many people simultaneously abhor a politician’s blatant dishonesty when it comes to facts, while responding positively to what they see as his authenticity or sincerity?

A lot turns on this question, including the future of nations.

The fact is that transparency - or showing oneself as one is - and honesty – describing the world as it is - are related but different.