Is Tibet really “an integral part of China”?
The NP’s Answer: I once debated the Chinese ambassador to the U.S. on this topic. The very first (and really only) thing he brought up: the marriage of a Tang princess to Songtsen Gampo, the king of Tibet, way back in the 600s. A pretty tenuous basis for claim to a country the size of […]
Student Question: Was the French Revolution the beginning of modern history?
In a very real way, yes. I think it’s important, though, that we understand that the French Revolution was about a lot more than toppling monarchy. For the modern state, in my opinion, nationalism is absolutely necessary. The French Revolution (and then Napoleon) demonstrated nationalism’s tremendous mobilization power. Thus the political class is constantly collectivizing (nationalism […]
Student Question: “Did World War II End the Great Depression?”
I know that the conventional wisdom says that the War ended the Depression, but there are some serious problems with this line of thinking. War is destructive, not productive. War involves much more centralization—demanded in order to centrally plan a war economy. Central planning in turn virtually always mis-allocates resources, skewing the market and sending […]
Student Question: “Was the Mexican-American War justified on the part of the United States?”
You be the judge. People can “justify” either side, but it’s the massive land grab that makes me scratch my head. For a war to be “just,” typically one must be acting in self-defense. How was Polk acting in self-defense? He’s the one who sent an army into territory he knew the Mexicans considered Mexico, and […]
Two generations before COVID-19, there was polio
Polio was once one of the most feared diseases in the United States, impacting tens of thousands a year—famously even crippling a U.S. president. One of the most frightening things about polio was that it disproportionately struck children and youth. Every summer, thousands of American children died of the disease, and thousands or tens of […]
