Back in the day, with Edward Snowden’s revelations about the NSA recording all our digital communications, it became apparent that George Orwell’s 1984 image of Big Brother was made manifest: Big Government. Over time, we all accepted it – the government knows and sees all. Then we realized that, for most of us, government tracking…
Responsibility, Liberty, and Technology
Be it remembered, however, that liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker! But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us at the expence of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood. ~ John Adams, Essay on Canon…
Introducing: Rogue White & Blue Clothing Company
James here! I’m the founder of Rogue White & Blue Clothing Company based in the great state of Utah. I brought the brand to market in the fall of 2021 with a single goal in mind: To bring patriotism to the outdoor industry through American made products. But the idea for a patriotic outdoor business…
Election Integrity: Following Facebook’s Lead?
In recent years, Google, Facebook and Twitter have become the new Axis of Evil. Consider this: Twitter accounts banished in the last few years were suddenly reinstated without any explanation. Curious timing. Musk was right: the current leadership at Twitter is the incarnation of Joseph Stalin. For those attending US Public schools and universities, Stalin…
How to Profit from Growing Inflation
It seems like everywhere we turn, prices of our essential goods are constantly on the rise and the tales of inflation wreaking havoc on our economy flood the news like reality tv. In fact, consumer prices are up 9.1% through the end of June 2022. So what’s the solution? Is there any way to slow…
Exposed: The Most Dangerous “Truism” for Individual Investors
The most dangerous “truism” for individual investors is that buy-and-hold investing is the best investment strategy to use. It’s especially dangerous for investors wanting to retire. Take a moment to educate yourself. If you’re an investor in the stock market — and who isn’t these days — with the proliferation of mutual funds and self-directed…
5 Common Salesforce Problems
My colleague Michal and I founded Maintask in 2017 in the hopes that we could transform the liberty movement from within. This transformation occurs for each pro-liberty group we work with by maximizing their Salesforce capabilities to make their team more efficient and effective at carrying out its mission. No matter where your organization is,…
Beware: The Government is Stealing People’s Homes
“I still can’t believe this happened to me,” says Deborah Foss, a 67-year-old grandmother in Massachusetts. Last winter, Deborah lost her home and was forced to move into her car after she fell behind on her property taxes. Her home was worth more than she owed the government, but unbelievably, she lost it all. That’s…
Considerations in Government Funding Control of Education
For years I have been attending both libertarian and conservative conferences on education, hoping for an opportunity to discuss truly free-market educational options. I was so grateful when FreedomFest asked me to be a guest on two panels: 1) “The School Choice Revolution: A Review on How Far We’ve Come and Where We’re Headed,” and…
Banned from FreedomFest? Our Side of the Story
A rumor has circulated over the past three months that Jason Rink, a well-known libertarian filmmaker, was banned or canceled from FreedomFest. This simply isn’t true. In fact, Jason purchased a ticket and attended the event. And he was tentatively scheduled to speak at Anthem, but he asked us to remove him from the panel.…
Lessons from a Venezuelan Refugee: Socialism is Not the Answer
Across U.S. college campuses, a dangerous and misdirected ideology has been flourishing—that socialism is the answer to the nation’s problems. Socialism’s true believers say that a free-market system is a key cause of the country’s inequality, and that further government intervention is the solution. This could not be farther from the truth. How do I…
Education Freedom is on the March
In case you haven’t heard, education freedom is on the march in America. Parents are fed up with the status quo, they’re fighting back – and they’re winning. On Thursday, July 14, former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos joined me at FreedomFest, where we discussed the unlimited potential that exists when parents are empowered to make…
Welcoming an Innovative, Decentralized Future for American Education
With the new school year starting in August in many parts of the country, it’s an exciting time for parents, educators, and learners. American families today have more education choices than ever before, and educators have many more career opportunities to explore. From the stunning expansion of state-level school choice policies that enable education dollars…
Reclaiming Free Speech in a Growing Culture of Censorship
Calls to shut down “misinformation” targeting the country’s most popular podcast, social media posts from an editor’s teenage years getting her fired from Teen Vogue, a Georgetown University law professor placed under investigation for a single tweet, legislators across the country attempting to ban entire academic subjects: These are just a few examples of the…
Sex Workers’ Freedom Impacts Us All
The reasons to decriminalize consensual adult sex work are numerous and compelling. They are based in evidence, in reason, and in the principles that those of us who value liberty, freedom, bodily autonomy, privacy, and choice hold dear. Proponents of the criminalization of consensual adult sex work perpetuate the harms that laws based in ideology,…
Four Secrets Wealth Advisors Should Know When Recommending DAFs
Individuals become wealth advisors for a host of reasons. For many, it’s the thrill of fortunes and building a life in a career that allows you oftentimes to be your captain. For others, it’s a profession that will enable the combination of education and sales within an industry with higher-than-average attrition rates, thus quenching their…
Empowering Freedom and Abundance in the Digital Age
Revive Freedom. Restore Truth. Rebuild America. At the core of Epik is our commitment to the principles that have made America a great leading nation for the cause of liberty, truth and a free society. These principles have been under attack more than ever by opposing, tyrannical forces within big tech, major media channels, corrupt…
ARE SAFE DOUBLE DIGIT INVESTMENT RETURNS STILL POSSIBLE?
Stock market returns over the past 15 years have been unprecedented, fueled by trillions of dollars in free money, courtesy of quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve. However, market conditions have changed, just as they did in 2007 and 2008. The effects of rising interest rates, high inflation, increased spending by government and the shutdown…
Sparking Critical Thinking and Constructive Dialogue
COVID-19 disrupted learning on a massive scale. According to McKinsey & Co: “Students testing in 2021 were about ten points behind in math and nine points behind in reading, compared with matched students in previous years.” Educators across the country are stepping up to close grade-level gaps in basic skills, while also grappling with students…
THE FREEDOM TO TALK FREELY: My Introduction to Braver Angels
In July, 2021, I attended FreedomFest for perhaps the 5th time, but my first time as speaker. As I wandered the FreedomFest exhibit hall floor, I found the Braver Angels booth. Remembering the famous Lincoln quote about “the better angels of our nature,” I was intrigued. They explained their mission: “to bring Americans together to…
Pursuing a Revival… in Gold
Gold has proven itself over 5,000 years as an unshakable store of value. Today, perhaps more than at any other time in the past few decades, gold’s role in a diversified portfolio of investments has never been more important. Bloated with once cheap debt and struggling against surging inflation, governments and individuals are in the…
Don’t Be Doomed!
I’d like to award you a ⭐️ gold star sticker if you can finish this sentence “Those who fail to learn from the past are _________” Did you get it? I’ll reveal the answer in just a minute. But here’s the problem. Today our country is full of socialists and supporters of big government who…
Free Speech, Now More Than Ever
As we watch the world we built seem to be torn apart before our very eyes, it’s becoming clear to more and more people that free speech is more important now than it has ever been. Rising fuel prices and the onset of inflation in a down market have gotten the attention of people who…
NFT’s Higher Purpose
All the signs were there. There were reports of a velvet-rope pixeled, primate yacht party in Brooklyn. Next, Justin Bieber and his celebrity friends hit the late-night television circuit to showcase their newly acquired digital collectibles. And then came the ultimate market peak headline, “Madonna Reveals Fully Nude NFTs – and a 3D Model of…
Why a National Popular Vote for President Is Needed
The National Popular Vote interstate compact will guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and DC. It will apply the one-person-one-vote principle to presidential elections. Why is this necessary? Campaigns are concentrated in a dozen closely divided battleground states Under the current state-by-state, winner-take-all method of…
Big Tech: The Greatest Threat to American Freedom
America was founded on freedom—freedom of speech, freedom of association, freedom of beliefs, and most importantly, the freedom of self-determination. Self-determination, in terms of American independence, meant freedom from control and manipulation by an elite class in England that did not have the best interests of the American people in mind. When the internet was…
Learn Economics, Then Vote Smart
Main Street Economics Main Street Economics is devoted to educating the American voting public about basic economic concepts behind the problems facing our country and then offering solutions to those problems. We explain basic economics in laymen’s terms and analyze the issues facing our government. Common sense is used to present the policy ideas which…
Stagflation, Pitchfork Economics and What’s to Come: A Survival Guide
Part of the reason the world is in such a mess is that the politically attractive “solution” to a supply shock– that is, checks in the mail — exacerbates rather than cures the problem. The typical reaction of policymakers is to stimulate a stalled economy by pumping up aggregate demand. But that knee-jerk answer ignores…
Supermodels, Deception, and Redemption
We’ve all been there. Bowled over at first sight; eye-catching, known world-wide, and the subject of entire books. What a package! But as your acquaintance deepens you sense that something’s amiss… Maybe you’re not getting the straight story… And maybe you start looking around. That was certainly the case for me. Like most people, the…
A Realignment Strategy to Turn the Tide
We’re at one of the most polarized cultural and political points in American history. If you’re like me, you’re sick of it. But you don’t want to surrender liberty for the sake of unity. We need a strategy for cultural and political realignment that preserves the liberty we still enjoy and restores that which we…
From “Sickcare” to Healthcare and Your 200th Birthday
Are you sick to death of being sick and dying? Today, we have “sickcare.” You get sick. You get treatments. Some are useful, others not. Your choices are often limited by government. And you fight about how to pay the bills. As you age, you’ll fall ill more often. You’ll find that treatments to stop…
Using Persuasion to Break Through in the Attention Economy
Advocating for liberty can feel like we’re swimming against the tide. We operate in an attention economy and attention is a scarce resource. Every brand, entertainer, politician and individual is competing for the attention of an audience. We need to earn every second of attention we can get. That’s why it’s key to understand how…
WHAT DAMAGE WILL THE FED DO NEXT?
How long before the Federal Reserve caves in to deteriorating market and economic news and stops tightening? I have little doubt that we will see the “Powell pivot” before inflation is firmly under control, and even less doubt that the Fed will be unable to bring inflation down without causing serious damage to asset prices…
The East Coast Expansion Accelerates and Brands Emerge
Cannapreneur Partners is currently focused on the east coast. Why? Cannapreneur Partners’ eyes are set on the clear and present cannabis revolution taking place on the East Coast of the country. States such as Massachusetts have shown that the market is hungry for better and affordable access to high-quality, legal cannabis products. 39 states have…
Gun Rights in Troubled Times
Don’t be put on the defensive—we’re proud to fight for gun rights in troubled times 2022 has been a notably violent and chaotic year. Shortly after the tragedies in Buffalo and Uvalde, we’re now learning details about a would-be assassin targeting Justice Kavanaugh, while voters have recalled San Francisco’s District Attorney amid surging crime and…
More Christians Need to be Libertarian, and We Know How to Convince Them
Rejecting the Christian Attraction to Political Power Many Christians in America – on both Left and Right – have been grasping for power instead of standing up for the principles that enable human flourishing. They have fallen prey to the allure of the status, privilege, and power granted by an institution that the Church has…
The (Mostly) Unfettered Freedom of Owning a Business
In troubled economic times, and in booming economies, too, owning a business offers a degree of freedom that other types of employment don’t. Because they can’t. Business Ownership: a Form of Freedom Why is owning your own business so appealing? What’s so great about it? Calling the shots is a fantastic adrenaline rush. It’s great…
The Passion of Socialists
Why is there so much passion behind socialism, whereas there’s relatively little behind capitalism? A college student recently asked me this question during a breakout session at a FEE-CISC conference. She went on to point out that advocates of socialism speak with a sense of moral certainty about their position, whereas advocates of capitalism, if…
Turn Your Own Tide Toward Freedom
You’re absolutely aware that a devastating financial and social disaster is looming. You’ve probably seen the signs and have wondered just how to survive it, or avoid it altogether. I’m not a doomsday professor…I’ve simply been in the game long enough to understand the mechanics at play. And I’m not the only one who’s been…
As Radical Woke Activists Seek to Erase Women, It’s Time For A Women’s Bill of Rights
Standing on the sidelines of my daughters’ lacrosse games, I sometimes hear women talking about it in whispered voices. What is happening with women’s sports? Why isn’t anyone doing anything about it? Surely, everyone knows it’s madness to let men compete on women’s teams! These women are right. Everyone knows that it’s deeply wrong that…
What’s Wrong with Democracy? For Starters – Inflation!
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” – John Adams Being in complete agreement with John Adams, I’ve spent decades researching the fallibilities of democracy – and most importantly, the core causes of its inevitable demise in every society…
Parkinson’s Disease: First-In-Human Clinical Studies with a Novel Therapeutic for Brain Disorders
A healthy and intact vascular system in the brain is critical for normal human functioning, both motor and cognitive. Any disruption in the brain’s blood perfusion system can lead to dire consequences, as the brain neurons are deprived of glucose and oxygen and begin to become dysfunctional. An attractive hypothesis that is emerging from a…
Discover Your Personal Money Scripts® and How They Impact Your Saving Spending & Investing
Somewhat disturbingly, financial psychologists have found clusters of unconscious beliefs that can influence our financial decisions around saving, spending, and investing. Some beliefs are associated with greater and lesser financial success. While our personal set of financial beliefs are as unique as our fingerprints, it could be very useful to discover any influential subconscious beliefs…
Independent Voters are Alive and Well — and Angrier than Ever
Last summer, several Minneapolis city council members joined Rep. Ilhan Omar at a rally where they vowed to “end policing as we know it.” A local newspaper noted ominously that these officials constituted a veto-proof majority of the city council. Change was in the air. Four weeks ago, however, the incumbents heard from the thousands…
The Science of Storytelling
Think tanks, nonprofits, political parties and other impact organizations in the pro-freedom space encounter complicated situations – and arguments – every day. In the face of their complexity, many focus on developing the most logically sound arguments, sophisticated research methods or effective fundraising tools. But whatever their aim, every change-maker must ultimately compete for attention, elicit an…
The Day You Learned Online Fundraising For Liberty
That day is today. I’m Tim Bertram. Over the years, I’ve helped pro-liberty non-profit organizations transform from being clueless at online fundraising to being world-class experts. I’ll save you a lot of time and headaches by sharing most of my secrets here. At the end of this article I’ll tell you how you can learn…
Schooled, Not Educated
Forty smiling faces gazed back at me expectantly from around the beautiful banquet table while the host introduced me. As an education freedom advocate, I was cautiously excited to speak with highly educated patriots who desire freedom for our nation. Servers came in with plates of filet mignon and roasted potatoes as I gently began.…
She’s My New Favorite Superhero
Scroll through a list of new film releases over the past several years and you’ll notice the titles are dominated by superheroes. Spider-Man, Black Panther, Wonder Woman, Batman, Iron Man, Superman, Aquaman… the list of lead characters with superpowers is somewhat exhausting. Now, I know I’m a bit old school, but I prefer literary heroes…
A Tale of Two Senators from Nevada
Two incidents define the difference between a statesman and a politician from Nevada. The first is Paul Laxalt (1922-2018). His family has deep roots in Nevada. Laxalt was a World War II veteran and a lawyer, and served as a district attorney and lieutenant governor. In 1964, Laxalt decided to run for the US Senate…
In Memoriam: Linda Whetstone (1942-2021)
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Linda Whetstone (1942-2021). Linda was a remarkable woman with a knack for cutting to the heart of an issue. And the heart of the issue was the ceaseless fight for the individual liberty of all people around the world. Her talents were duly recognized…