7/13/17–Post #5: The Communist States of America(?)

While I was working on my reflection on the Fourth of July, and as I was attempting to demonstrate the decline in American freedom for the last two centuries, I was struck by the thought that in many ways the United States is progressively heading towards a socialist or communist system of political economy. Certainly I am not original in this thought, many on the Right have made similar arguments over time; but I will be among the first to admit that some such arguments are poorly constructed and poorly delivered. But I do believe that the sense behind the arguments are nevertheless correct, we have been moving towards a more and more socialist country and very often people have argued that we should go even farther.

 

In terms of this post I want to look at the socialist program straight from the horse’s mouth and see where the United States today stacks up to that platform.

 

From the Man From Trier, Karl Marx and his book The Communist Manifesto, that font of insanity, here is the platform of the Communist Party:

 

“1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State, the bringing into cultivation of wastelands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.*
8. Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of industrial armies especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production,”[1]

 

 

I wonder to what extent the United States has at this point in time adopted the platform of the Communist Party as put forward by Karl Marx.

 

1. Abolition of Property. Private Property still exists, one can of course buy land and homes and the like and have legally protected claims upon such property. However, throughout the United States Americans have to pay property taxes, the on average American households pay $2,149 every year to the government; this even applies to persons who rent apartments.[2] Of course if these taxes are not paid, the owners of such property will be seized by government force. The median household income in the United States is $55,775 as of 2015.[3] This means that on average Americans pay roughly 4% of their annual earnings in order to ask permission to live in their own homes. “If it please the Crown, may I keep living in the property that I have already purchased.” On top of this, the Federal Government of the United States “owns” roughly 640 million acres of land throughout the United States; this constitutes 28% of all land in the United States. This is egregious in the Western United States in particular with 46.4% of the land in 11 Western states being owned by the Federal Government, in Alaska 61.3% of land is owned by the Federal Government.[4]
2. Progressive Income Tax. As of 2013 the average Federal Income tax that people in the United States paid was 20%, the top 1% of income earners were taxed at 34%; ever since 1979 these rates have remained relatively the same.[5] The top 1% of income earners are forced to “contribute” 39.48% of the Federal Government’s operational budget every year; the top 5% “contribute” 20.49% of the government’s budget.[6] On average Americans pay $11,155 of their $55,775 in Federal Income Taxes. Of the fifty states, forty-three levy income taxes upon their citizens, seven do not (WYOMING!). These tax rates range from as low as 3.07% in Pennsylvania to as high as 13.3% in California, regardless of these varying rates, states on average receive 27% of their budgets from these income taxes.[7] These rates once more being added on to the 4% property tax and the 20% average Federal tax. (Our average of $55,775 is starting to feel a bit tight). Again, if these taxes are not paid, Americans can expect to hear a knock on their door from their local law enforcement.
3. Abolition of Inheritance. In the United States people are still able to leave money for their family members when they pass away…but only after the heirs pay somewhere between 18-40% of that gift from their loved one away to both Federal and state entities.[8] (If it please the Crown, may I leave some of my own property to my children after I die and rot in the ground?).
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. This is a part of the platform that I don’t believe has been implemented in the United States (good), in the context of Marx’s writings this essentially would have stripped property from people deemed to be “counter-revolutionaries” and anyone fleeing the Red Terror. Thankfully we have not seen much along these lines and if I wanted to include this as something the United States has engaged in I would have to do some stretching. For the sake of argument let us look at it anyhow. For instance, soon after the Revolutionary War concluded the property of people who supported the British was seized from them as they fled the newly formed country.[9] Similarly during the Civil War “The confiscation acts of the Union government providing for the judicial seizure of ‘rebel’ property in federal courts formed only an ineffective part of a larger policy of virtual confiscation which contemplated the employment of an elaborate machinery for appropriating the goods of the enemy.”[10] These two examples particularly involve the persecution of “counter-revolutionaries” to use the Marxist phrase, but it does not quite meet what Marx meant. Another example Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 sent 110,000 Japanese-American citizens to “relocation camps” while also seizing their assets and properties to sell to other private citizens.[11] An interesting abuse of power but not quite what Marx meant. For Americans that wish to renounce their U.S. citizenship and live elsewhere in the world, particularly for the wealthy, there is a hefty fee from the Federal Government in order to do so.[12] In pursuance of the War on Drugs the DEA has seized $4,000,000,000 in cash assets from persons being investigated for drug crimes since 2007 in what are called “Civil Asset Forfeiture.” 81% of that money was seized without formal criminal charges being levied against the persons in question. These statistics only include the actual currency seized from such persons and does not include the value of other assets seized like cars and other forms of property.[13] These are all interesting examples of power abuse by the Federal government, however, they do not quite meet what I can presume Karl Marx meant, i.e. the seizures being part of a wider Red Terror to assert the power of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat whilst they seize the Means of Production.
5. Centralization of Credit. There are certainly private banks that are allowed to operate in the United States and work for profit. Banks like Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, CitiGroup, Capital One Financial among many others. That being said, they are among the most heavily regulated industries in the United States.[14] Among the “watchdogs” in the Government that regulate the banking industry in the United States are: The SEC, the CFTC, the FDIC, FinCEN, FINRA, the OCC, the NCUA, the CFPB, the NAIC, The NFA, on top of that each state has its own banking authority.[15] Despite this fact the myth still exists and is propounded by many politicians and ideologues that “deregulation” of the banking industry lead to the Housing Crash in 2008.[16] Outside of straight forward regulations and regulatory agencies the United States itself has a Central Bank, the Federal Reserve. Founded on December 23, 1913 the Federal Reserve’s primary function, in their words, “to provide the nation a safer, more flexible, and more stable monetary and financial system.”[17] Which is ironic since they oversaw 19 separate recessions over the last century[18] including the Great Depression and the Great Recession while also dropping the value of the dollar by 96%.[19] Much evidence has been presented that the Federal Reserve is largely responsible for not only starting the Great Depression but also for continuing it for 17 grinding years. This has been noted by both Milton Friedman but also by former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke among many other historians and economists.[20] Further there is much evidence from various economists that the Federal Reserve itself is responsible for the Great Recession as well.[21] The previous article largely works to identify immediate causes and consequences, but there has been widespread financial intervention into the economy from both the Federal Reserve and the Federal government for decades. For instance, since 1971 there have been at least six major financial interventions or “bailouts” to save particular sectors of the economy because they have been deemed to be “too big to fail,” essentially the government has been picking winners and losers in the economy for decades.[22] (Note: the previous article did not include the Bailouts under both Bush and Obama at the height of the Housing Bubble Crash). Not only does the Federal Reserve directly regulate banks in the United States, but it also has an exclusive monopoly on printing U.S. dollars as well as largely controls interest rates for lending and borrowing.[23] Essentially, it is a government created cabal with little to no oversight that controls the direction and growth of the national economy (bubbles galore!) whose director is appointed by the President of the United States and approved by the Senate. For more reasons why the Federal Reserve is terrible read the article cited here.[24]
6. Centralization of Communication/Transportation. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) was founded on New Year’s Eve 1899 and maintained a national monopoly until 1984 when it was broken up into eight separate companies following anti-trust litigation.[25] While certainly AT&T held a monopoly over national phone communications for decades, it was only possible through government favors in order to keep out competitors. We should remember what Ayn Rand wrote on the issue: “no coercive monopoly has ever been or ever can be established by means of free trade on a free market. Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy…”[26] Telecom companies throughout the nation face massive regulations from both Federal and State governments. The Federal Communications Commission heavily regulates all transmissions on radio and television and for a time enforced what was known as The Fairness Doctrine on political commentary.[27] Now progressives want the FCC to regulate the Wild West of the Internet.[28] For more on why the FCC is a problematic regulatory agency you can read this article here.[29] The United States Postal Service has a monopoly on the delivery of letters; current laws prevent competitors from delivering letters and in fact people have been prosecuted for attempting to compete with the USPS.[30] As nearly everyone who has driven a car in the United States the state governments throughout the country have dozens upon dozens of laws and regulations upon who can drive, how they drive, and what they drive. Further, with the railroads the initial spread of railroads, particularly the Northern Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads, were heavily funded by the United States Federal government. While trains today are generally used to transport freight rather than passengers, Amtrak has a monopoly on passenger transportation endorsed by the Federal Government; an organization that has been given $22.5 billion from 1971 to 1997.[31]
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State, the bringing into cultivation of wastelands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan. As I noted above I am not entirely sure what Marx meant by this part of his platform. It may be merely an extension of point 1, if so you may look back to the evidence I brought up in that section, particularly with the Federal ownership of vast swaths of land. But further in this point is the development of such land for centralized economic planning. If I read this point correctly then it seems as if the Federal government is doing the opposite of this point, i.e. seizing vast swaths of land and then doing nothing productive with such land. Particularly when agencies like the BLM actively block development of this land and continue to expand its holdings. This represents a very different but arguably just as concerning Left-Wing doctrine other than the point that Marx wished to impose upon society.
8. Establishment of industrial armies especially for agriculture. During the Great Depression there were two million young men in both the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Public Works Administration.[32] The Federal Government spent roughly $10 billion in funding these projects, which was seen by many as not actually helping the economy as a whole but merely to be a vote-buying project.[33] The program was “open to unemployed, unmarried U.S. male citizens between the ages of 18 and 26,” essentially it was open only to young men without families. Furthermore, rather than characterize joining the CCC as entering a contract it was referred to as “enlistment,” the minimum length of enlistment was 6 months.[34] Recruits were usually sent to Army Posts for physical examination, lived in Barracks, were required to wear old WW1 army uniforms, and were drilled with military discipline.[35] Professor of History John A. Garraty likened “the Civilian Conservation Corps to the Nazi youth camps, since both were designed to mobilize unemployed youth to keep them off the streets.”[36] We see here that the Federal Government actively organized young men in order to do fulfill make-work projects under military discipline all in pursuant of a government decreed economic goal.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of the population over the country. Attempting to prove this point as existing in the United States is an incredibly dubious notion. One could argue that the bussing of minority children to schools with a higher white population is part of this plank, but that would be dishonest since that is clearly not what Marx meant. One could argue that the rapid westward expansion and settlement would demonstrate this plank, but while there were government incentives to move west the migration was largely voluntary and not part of a particular economic plan, let alone towards a command-control economy.[37] Same can be said of the various other migrations in the past and future migrations, but nevertheless they are ultimately not part of an organized economic plan on the part of the government.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. This point is so obviously present in the United States that I won’t bother writing about it or utilize citations.

 

Now the purpose of this post is not to necessarily criticize every single law in the United States, this is not to say that for instance that we shouldn’t have schools or driver’s licenses.

 

Some of the things that I spoke about are supported by both Liberals and Conservatives, who in the United States would have the courage to suggest that we should not have public education and maintain their political career?

 

However, it should be instructive to note that while half of the platform is truly in force or had been in force in the United States, but also that arguments can easily be made that EVERY part of Marx’s platform is or has been instituted in the United States of America.

 

Certainly someone can say, “C.T. come on man, what are you complaining about. Certainly there are government regulations on many things but that doesn’t mean we’re a communist country. In fact, C.T., adding more laws and regulations will not plunge us into full Communism mode!”

 

That is true, and a fair statement. But my question and overall point is this: At what point would we be considered to be a socialist or communist nation? On a sliding scale, we aren’t at 100% communism/socialism. But where are we on that scale? And if each successive law and regulation move us along closer to that end of the scale, how many more laws do we need to pass? At what point will Conservatives say “enough is enough.” At what point will Liberals, since they claim not to be Communists, also say “stop!”

 

Every year we get closer, some times we take a step back away from that end destination, but nevertheless we are moving towards that ledge. At what point will we see we’re on that path, at what point will we turn back, and if we don’t turn back, at what point will we leap off?

 

Stay sane.

 

 

Works Cited

 

Allison, John A. “The Financial Crisis and the Bank Deregulation Myth.” Dec. 10, 2012. The Cato Institute. https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/financial-crisis-bank-deregulation-myth

 

Amadeo, Kimberly. “How Does the Fed Raise or Lower Interest Rates?” June 14, 2017. The Balance. https://www.thebalance.com/how-does-the-fed-raise-or-lower-interest-rates-3306127

 

Borowski, Julie. “Top 10 Reasons to End the Federal Reserve.” Feb. 1, 2012. Freedom Works. http://www.freedomworks.org/content/top-10-reasons-end-federal-reserve

 

Feulner, Edward. “US Postal Service: A Government Protected Monopoly.” Sept. 2003. Capitalism Magazine. http://capitalismmagazine.com/2003/09/us-postal-service-a-government-protected-monopoly/

 

Frankel, Matthew. “2016 Estate Tax Rates.” Dec. 18, 2015. The Motley Fool. https://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2015/12/18/2016-estate-tax-rates.aspx

 

“Historical Average Federal Tax Rates for All Households.” Feb. 13, 2017. Tax Policy Center. http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/historical-average-federal-tax-rates-all-households

 

“Histories.” Telecommunications History Group. http://www.telcomhistory.org/vm/histories.shtml

 

Kaeding, Nicole. “State Individual Income Tax and Brackets for 2016.” Feb. 8, 2016. Tax Foundation. https://taxfoundation.org/state-individual-income-tax-rates-and-brackets-2016/

 

Kiernan, John S. “2017’s Property Taxes by State.” Mar. 1, 2017. WalletHub. https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-highest-and-lowest-property-taxes/11585/

 

Kupelian, David. “Bernanke: Federal Reserve Caused Great Depression.” March 19, 2008. World Net Daily. http://www.wnd.com/2008/03/59405/

 

Hansan, J. “Civilian Conservation Corps.” The Social Welfare History Project. 2013. http://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/eras/great-depression/civilian-conservation-corps/

 

Heaton, Andrew & Sarah Rose Siskind. “Net Neutrality Nixed: Why John Oliver is Wrong.” May 19, 2017. Reason. http://reason.com/reasontv/2017/05/19/net-neutrality-nixed-why-john-oliver-is

 

Higgs, Robert. “The Welfare State and the Promise of Protection.” Aug. 24, 2009. The Mises Institute. https://mises.org/library/welfare-state-and-promise-protection

 

Ingraham, Christopher. “Since 2007, the DEA has taken $3.2 Billion in Cash From People Not Charged With a Crime.” March 29, 2017. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/29/since-2007-the-dea-has-taken-3-2-billion-in-cash-from-people-not-charged-with-a-crime/?utm_term=.fb2034661978

 

“List of Financial Regulatory Authorities by Country.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_financial_regulatory_authorities_by_country#cite_note-3

 

“List of Recessions in the United States.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_States

 

“Map: Median Household Income in the United States: 2015.” Sept. 15, 2016. United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2016/comm/cb16-158_median_hh_income_map.html

 

Marx, Karl. ed. Frederic L. Bender. The Communist Manifesto. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 1988.

 

Matthews, Dylan. “Everything You Need To Know About the Fairness Doctrine in One Post.” Aug. 23, 2011. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-fairness-doctrine-in-one-post/2011/08/23/gIQAN8CXZJ_blog.html?utm_term=.f86e8253a70a

 

McLaughlin, Patrick & Oliver Sherouse. “The McLaughlin-Sherouse List: The 10 Most-Regulated Industries of 2014.” Jan. 21, 2016. Mercatus Center. https://www.mercatus.org/publication/mclaughlin-sherouse-list-10-most-regulated-industries-2014

 

Moss, Ephraim. “Exposing the Hidden Tax Costs of Renouncing US Citizenship.” May 17, 2016. CNBC. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/17/exposing-the-hidden-tax-costs-of-renouncing-us-citizenship.html

 

Noah, Timothy. “The Bailout Record.” March 31, 2009. Slate. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/07/trump_s_deregulation_efforts_are_great_for_the_rich.html

 

O’Sullivan, Andrea. “Denmark Proves We Don’t Need the FCC.” April 4, 2017. Reason. http://reason.com/archives/2017/04/04/deregulate-the-fcc

 

Rand, Ayn. ed. Harry Binswanger. The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism From A To Z. New York: Meridian Books. 1988.

 

Randall, James G. “Captured and Abandoned Property During the Civil War.” The American Historical Review. Vol. 19, No. 1. (Oct., 1913). pp. 65-79.

 

Rothbard, Murray N. “The Distinction Between Theory and History.” Jun. 23, 2010. The Mises Institute. https://mises.org/library/distinction-between-theory-and-history

 

Salmond, John A. The Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942: A New Deal Case Study. “A Day in the CCC.” Durham: Duke University Press. 1967. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/ccc/salmond/chap8.htm

 

Schweikart, Larry & Michael Allen. A Patriot’s History of the United States. New York: Sentinel Books. 2004.

 

Smith, Michael. “Dollar Devaluation since 1913.” Dec. 4, 2015. Compare Gold and Silver Prices. http://www.comparegoldandsilverprices.com/news/economics-101/dollar-devaluation-since-1913/

 

U.S. Census. “Mean Center of Population for the United States: 1790 to 2010.” 2010 Census Results. 2010. http://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/cenpop2010/centerpop_mean2010.pdf

 

Vincent, Carol Hardy. et. al. “Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data.” March 3, 2017. Congressional Research Service. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42346.pdf

 

Vranich, Joseph. “Replacing Amtrak.” Oct. 1, 1997. The Reason Foundation. http://reason.org/studies/show/replacing-amtrak

 

“What is the Purpose of the Federal Reserve System?” Nov. 3, 2016. The Federal Reserve. https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/about_12594.htm

 

“Who Pays Income Taxes.” National Taxpayers Union Foundation. http://www.ntu.org/foundation/page/who-pays-income-taxes

 

Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York: HarperCollins. 2003.

*Note, I am not entirely sure by what is meant by this part of the platform. If any reader can let me know what it means it would be greatly appreciated.

[1] Marx, Karl. ed. Frederic L. Bender. The Communist Manifesto. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. 1988. pp. 74-75.

[2] Kiernan, John S. “2017’s Property Taxes by State.” Mar. 1, 2017. WalletHub. https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-highest-and-lowest-property-taxes/11585/

[3] “Map: Median Household Income in the United States: 2015.” Sept. 15, 2016. United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2016/comm/cb16-158_median_hh_income_map.html

[4] Vincent, Carol Hardy. et. al. “Federal Land Ownership: Overview and Data.” March 3, 2017. Congressional Research Service. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42346.pdf pp. 1, 20, 21.

[5] “Historical Average Federal Tax Rates for All Households.” Feb. 13, 2017. Tax Policy Center. http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/historical-average-federal-tax-rates-all-households

[6] “Who Pays Income Taxes.” National Taxpayers Union Foundation. http://www.ntu.org/foundation/page/who-pays-income-taxes

[7] Kaeding, Nicole. “State Individual Income Tax and Brackets for 2016.” Feb. 8, 2016. Tax Foundation. https://taxfoundation.org/state-individual-income-tax-rates-and-brackets-2016/

[8] Frankel, Matthew. “2016 Estate Tax Rates.” Dec. 18, 2015. The Motley Fool. https://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2015/12/18/2016-estate-tax-rates.aspx

[9] Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States. New York: HarperCollins. 2003. p. 84.

[10] Randall, James G. “Captured and Abandoned Property During the Civil War.” The American Historical Review. Vol. 19, No. 1. (Oct., 1913). p. 65.

[11] Schweikart, Larry & Michael Allen. A Patriot’s History of the United States. New York: Sentinel Books. 2004. pp. 608-609.

[12] Moss, Ephraim. “Exposing the Hidden Tax Costs of Renouncing US Citizenship.” May 17, 2016. CNBC. http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/17/exposing-the-hidden-tax-costs-of-renouncing-us-citizenship.html

[13] Ingraham, Christopher. “Since 2007, the DEA has taken $3.2 Billion in Cash From People Not Charged With a Crime.” March 29, 2017. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/29/since-2007-the-dea-has-taken-3-2-billion-in-cash-from-people-not-charged-with-a-crime/?utm_term=.fb2034661978

[14] McLaughlin, Patrick & Oliver Sherouse. “The McLaughlin-Sherouse List: The 10 Most-Regulated Industries of 2014.” Jan. 21, 2016. Mercatus Center. https://www.mercatus.org/publication/mclaughlin-sherouse-list-10-most-regulated-industries-2014

[15] “List of Financial Regulatory Authorities by Country.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_financial_regulatory_authorities_by_country#cite_note-3

[16] Allison, John A. “The Financial Crisis and the Bank Deregulation Myth.” Dec. 10, 2012. The Cato Institute. https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/financial-crisis-bank-deregulation-myth

[17] “What is the Purpose of the Federal Reserve System?” Nov. 3, 2016. The Federal Reserve. https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/about_12594.htm

[18] “List of Recessions in the United States.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_States

[19] Smith, Michael. “Dollar Devaluation since 1913.” Dec. 4, 2015. Compare Gold and Silver Prices. http://www.comparegoldandsilverprices.com/news/economics-101/dollar-devaluation-since-1913/

[20] Kupelian, David. “Bernanke: Federal Reserve Caused Great Depression.” March 19, 2008. World Net Daily. http://www.wnd.com/2008/03/59405/

[21] Salsman, Richard M. “How Bernanke’s Fed Triggered the Great Recession.” July 17, 2011. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardsalsman/2011/07/17/how-bernankes-fed-triggered-the-great-recession/#522d1b7761d9

[22] Noah, Timothy. “The Bailout Record.” March 31, 2009. Slate. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/07/trump_s_deregulation_efforts_are_great_for_the_rich.html

[23] Amadeo, Kimberly. “How Does the Fed Raise or Lower Interest Rates?” June 14, 2017. The Balance. https://www.thebalance.com/how-does-the-fed-raise-or-lower-interest-rates-3306127

[24] Borowski, Julie. “Top 10 Reasons to End the Federal Reserve.” Feb. 1, 2012. Freedom Works. http://www.freedomworks.org/content/top-10-reasons-end-federal-reserve

[25] “Histories.” Telecommunications History Group. http://www.telcomhistory.org/vm/histories.shtml

[26] Rand, Ayn. ed. Harry Binswanger. The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism From A To Z. New York: Meridian Books. 1988. p. 308.

[27] Matthews, Dylan. “Everything You Need To Know About the Fairness Doctrine in One Post.” Aug. 23, 2011. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-fairness-doctrine-in-one-post/2011/08/23/gIQAN8CXZJ_blog.html?utm_term=.f86e8253a70a

[28] Heaton, Andrew & Sarah Rose Siskind. “Net Neutrality Nixed: Why John Oliver is Wrong.” May 19, 2017. Reason. http://reason.com/reasontv/2017/05/19/net-neutrality-nixed-why-john-oliver-is

[29] O’Sullivan, Andrea. “Denmark Proves We Don’t Need the FCC.” April 4, 2017. Reason. http://reason.com/archives/2017/04/04/deregulate-the-fcc

[30] Feulner, Edward. “US Postal Service: A Government Protected Monopoly.” Sept. 2003. Capitalism Magazine. http://capitalismmagazine.com/2003/09/us-postal-service-a-government-protected-monopoly/

[31] Vranich, Joseph. “Replacing Amtrak.” Oct. 1, 1997. The Reason Foundation. http://reason.org/studies/show/replacing-amtrak

[32] Schweikart. p. 564.

[33] Higgs, Robert. “The Welfare State and the Promise of Protection.” Aug. 24, 2009. The Mises Institute. https://mises.org/library/welfare-state-and-promise-protection

[34] Hansan, J. “Civilian Conservation Corps.” The Social Welfare History Project. 2013. http://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/eras/great-depression/civilian-conservation-corps/

[35] Salmond, John A. The Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942: A New Deal Case Study. “A Day in the CCC.” Durham: Duke University Press. 1967. https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/ccc/salmond/chap8.htm

[36] Rothbard, Murray N. “The Distinction Between Theory and History.” Jun. 23, 2010. The Mises Institute. https://mises.org/library/distinction-between-theory-and-history

[37] U.S. Census. “Mean Center of Population for the United States: 1790 to 2010.” 2010 Census Results. 2010. http://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/reference/cenpop2010/centerpop_mean2010.pdf