Attribute to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

A couple of mentions of useful, informative, or funny articles the last week:

Libertarianism at the Brink
by David Gordon
[Cato Institute (or at least a staff member) says libertarianism has no wide public appeal on account of rights.]
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Early American Government Ran on Lotteries, Not Taxes
by Sarah Laskow
In the 17th and 18th centuries, lotteries were seen less as a sinful pastime and more as a civic duty. They payed for defense, roads, and all sorts of projects. Without them, early America couldn’t have been built.
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Trump Defiles the Sanctity of Government, and it Drives the Center-Left Mad
by Jeffrey A. Tucker
There is something off about this center-left tendency. Commentators are driven to wild apoplexy by Trump, but not for the reasons I would normally cite. They seem to object to the very existence of Trump, his every utterance, his actions no matter what they are, and everything related to this new administration. It finally struck me why.

The center-left has at least one hundred years of work and resources invested in the state’s health, well being, reputation, and exalted moral status. Nothing must be allowed to threaten it or take it down a peg or two.
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Why the Left Refuses to Talk About Venezuela
by Ryan McMaken
During the 2016 presidential election, Bernie Sanders refused to answer questions about Venezuela during an interview with Univision. He claimed to not want to talk about it because he's "focused on my campaign." Many suggested a more plausible reason: Venezuela's present economy is an example of what happens when a state implements Bernie Sanders-style social democracy.
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The War on Free Speech is Just Beginning
To make society into a utopian vision, universities have become, after decades of propaganda, enemies of intellectual freedom. by Denyse O'Leary
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Culpability for this Ransomware Belongs to the NSA
by Jeffrey A. Tucker
In all the coverage of the recent ransomware attack shutting down computer systems around the world, one point has been buried and obscured. The focus has been on precisely who spread this horrid thing, what damage it has done, what to do once you have it, and how to prevent it.

All fascinating questions. But an equally, if not more, important question is: who created this weapon of mass computer destruction? What was its origin? How did it get released in the first place?

And here, the answer is as sure as it is alarming. The culpability belongs to the National Security Agency. That’s right. The government that claims to be protecting us against cybercrime both made the virus and failed to secure it from being stolen by malicious actors.
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The author of the following seems to know that Chomsky is not a "liberal" but a communist. Communists are not liberals except in the world of people who do not know what words mean… which is most people, alas, and one of the reasons the world is in such a mess right now. It is really kind of funny to see people self-hyptonized by words, and by the incorrect meaning of those words at that. Ah me, people are pretty funny I will admit. Mostly funny ha-ha, but not always.

Liberals (and the media) are finally getting the violence they wanted
by Dan Gainor
Liberal commentator Noam Chomsky once wrote, “people with power understand exactly one thing: violence.” His alt-left supporters must have been paying attention. As a result, the liberal cold war against the right has escalated from demonization to intimidation, harassment and violence — with Trump administration officials and members of Congress as prime targets.

You can thank media outlets for escalating the tensions and urging left-wing shock troops to declare war on the right. HuffPost went so far as to encourage harassment of Trump officials and pundits, calling for them to, “be hounded by protestors [sic] everywhere, especially in public.” HuffPost is led by a supposedly respected former New York Times editor Lydia Polgreen.
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Speaking of the F.B.I., to get some insight into them guys, just ask any cop you happen to know what they think of the F.B.I. Be prepared to enjoy a rant about incompetent assholes. Endless entertainment!