If an “America first” policy is supposed to promote American self-interest, the obvious first question is: What defines an entire country’s interest? What public-policy goal can the government pursue that is in everyone’s interest? And the fundamental answer is: our freedom. Your life depends ultimately on your thinking. From the choice of a lifelong career to
Once upon a time the left and the right were political opposites. The left condemned capitalism and sought to expand government’s role in our lives; the right defended capitalism and endorsed limited government. Over the years, although the right became less and less committed to individual freedom and capitalism, it nonetheless presented a discernible alternative to the collectivism of the left.
On his latest foreign trip, President Trump again invoked the idea of “America first.” As someone who is repelled by Trump and his presidency, I am a little reluctant to justify something he nominally upholds. But actually his support for this policy is all the more reason it needs to be clarified and defended—defended not
Here’s an observation that may surprise people: Donald Trump is not an egoist. And I say that not as praise, but as criticism. An egoist is someone whose self-interest is his highest value. But our genuine self-interest is not achieved by doing whatever we happen to feel like doing. Life is conditional. Since some actions