Blake Hall

Founder & CEO of Army Veteran. American. Live free or die.

[Blake Hall @Blake_Hall]

Yesterday, I took my family to Arlington National Cemetery to visit my friends, Garrett Slaughter and Captain John Ryan Dennison Memorial. They are buried in Section 60, also known as "The Saddest Acre in America," because many who are buried there died young after 9/11. One mother had a lawn chair, with flowers on either side, pulled right up to the headstone of her son, a Marine. It looked like she had been sitting there all day. A family of four with two teenage daughters wept over another grave nearby. For my part, I felt an overwhelming wave of sorrow as I approached Garrett's grave with my daughters and my son. We put flowers on his grave. I told my children a few funny stories about our time together at Vanderbilt, Ranger School, and then in the Army. And then, we walked to Ryan's grave and spent some time with him. Ryan was a bright light full of positivity and passion wherever he went. I miss my friends... Shortly before D-Day, 2nd Lieutenant Jack Lundberg wrote a letter to his family that began, "Now that I am actually here, I see my chances of returning to you all are quite slim, therefore I want to write this letter now while I am yet able." He went on to write, "We of the United States have something to fight for — never more fully have I realized that. There just is no other country with comparable wealth, advancement, or standard of living. The U.S.A. is worth a sacrifice!" He was killed a few weeks later. But, his spirit -- the resolute determination to protect a nation based on freedom no matter the cost. That remains. It's why I'm so proud of Garrett and Ryan even while I am devastated I'll never watch them play with my kids.

[Blake Hall @Blake_Hall]

Every Memorial Day, I send this note to our team. I miss my friends, who gave their lives so that we may live free. https://t.co/1IXGsTLM9Z

[JD Vance @JDVance]

It’s been almost two months since President Trump took the bold step of officially forming the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.

We’ve already uncovered tens of billions of dollars in defrauded taxpayer money, prosecuted dozens of fraudsters, and stopped billions in suspicious payments. And we’re just getting started.

So why has it taken the federal government until now to finally tackle fraud? Because Andrew Ferguson and I are taking a new approach. Here’s how.

[Brivael Le Pogam @brivael]

Hello Julia, sans aucune ironie, c'est top que tu prennes le temps de te renseigner. Mais le problème quand on lit Marx aujourd'hui, c'est qu'on prend pour acquis sa prémisse de départ, alors qu'elle a été démontée scientifiquement il y a plus de 150 ans.

Toute la pensée de Marx repose sur la théorie de la valeur-travail. L'idée que la valeur d'un bien vient de la quantité de travail nécessaire pour le produire. Si tu acceptes cette prémisse, alors oui, tout son raisonnement tient. Le capitaliste "vole" la plus-value du travailleur, l'exploitation est mathématique, la révolution est inévitable.

Sauf qu'en 1871, trois économistes (Menger en Autriche, Jevons en Angleterre, Walras en Suisse) découvrent indépendamment la même chose : la valeur n'est pas objective, elle est subjective et marginale.

Un verre d'eau dans le désert vaut une fortune. Le même verre à côté d'une rivière ne vaut rien. Le travail incorporé est identique. Donc le travail ne détermine pas la valeur. C'est le consommateur qui valorise un bien selon son utilité marginale dans un contexte donné.

Exemple concret : tu peux passer 1000 heures à tricoter un pull moche que personne ne veut. Selon Marx, ce pull a énormément de valeur (beaucoup de travail incorporé). Selon la réalité, il ne vaut rien. Parce que personne n'en veut.

À l'inverse, Bernard Arnault crée des milliards de valeur non pas parce qu'il "exploite" mais parce qu'il a su anticiper et organiser des désirs humains à grande échelle. La valeur est créée par la coordination, pas extraite par le vol.

Cette découverte (la révolution marginaliste) a invalidé tout l'édifice marxiste. Pas pour des raisons idéologiques, pour des raisons scientifiques. C'est pour ça que plus aucun département d'économie sérieux au monde n'enseigne Marx comme un cadre d'analyse valide. On l'enseigne en histoire de la pensée.

Maintenant, le truc important. Si ton intention en lisant Marx c'est d'aider les pauvres (c'est une intention noble), alors tu vas être surprise par ce qui suit.

Regarde les chiffres de la Banque mondiale. En 1820, 90% de l'humanité vivait dans l'extrême pauvreté. Aujourd'hui, moins de 9%. Cette chute historique ne s'est PAS produite dans les pays qui ont appliqué Marx. Elle s'est produite dans les pays qui ont libéralisé leur économie.

Chine post-1978, Vietnam post-1986, Inde post-1991, Pologne post-1989. À chaque fois qu'un pays libéralise, des centaines de millions de gens sortent de la pauvreté en une génération. À chaque fois qu'un pays applique Marx (URSS, Cambodge, Corée du Nord, Venezuela), c'est la famine et les goulags.

Ce n'est pas une opinion, c'est l'expérience la plus massive jamais menée en sciences sociales. Plusieurs milliards de cobayes humains, sur un siècle.

Donc paradoxalement, si tu aimes vraiment les pauvres, la position la plus cohérente n'est pas d'être marxiste. C'est d'être pour la liberté économique. Parce que c'est empiriquement la seule chose qui a jamais sorti massivement les gens de la misère.

Pour creuser, je te recommande trois lectures qui vont changer ta vision :

"La Loi" de Frédéric Bastiat (court, lumineux, gratuit en ligne)
"La Route de la Servitude" de Hayek
"Économie en une leçon" de Henry Hazlitt
Bonne lecture, et vraiment chapeau de chercher à comprendre plutôt que de rester dans tes certitudes. C'est rare.

[Blake Hall @Blake_Hall]

I agree with the approach but disagree with the diagnosis. First, people are super busy. Second, your champion doesn’t understand your product as well as you do. Third, the telephone game is undefeated when it comes to diluting value and failing to address predictable objections. A sales person who is willing to do the work to package up content that is meant to be distributed through the company via your champion solves all three problems. Net-net, if you don’t care enough about your own product to make value super easy to consume, then don’t expect your champion to do your job for you.

[ID.me @IDme]

Meet Joan Rodriguez-Vogel, Special Assistant to the CEO at @IDme.

After 12 years on Capitol Hill, Joan now supports our Founder and CEO @Blake_Hall keep priorities moving and follow-through strong—so @IDme can stay focused on keeping people safe online while making it easy to access benefits and essential services.

We’re proud to spotlight team members like Joan who help make that impact possible.

[Nick shirley @nickshirleyy]

🚨 Here is the full 40 minutes of my crew and I exposing California fraud, Minnesota was big but California is even bigger... We uncovered over $170,000,000 in fraud as these fraudsters live in luxury with no consequences. Like it and share it, the fraud must STOP.

We ALL work way too hard and pay too much in taxes for this to be happening. These fraudsters have been able to defraud American taxpayers for years without any pushback from the public and politicians.

It is time to EXPOSE IT ALL and end America's fraud crisis.

[Samantha Smith @SamanthaTaghoy]

The Iranian women’s national football team refused to sing the anthem of the Islamic Regime. Tonight. At the opening match of the Asian Cup. In front of the entire world.

So, to all liberal Western women:

Watch and learn.
THIS is what real feminism looks like.

[Thomas Rid @RidT]

M Street and Wisconsin in Georgetown taken over by a large crowd of celebrating Iranians, chanting USA USA … not what I was expecting during my run today.

[Dr. Maalouf ‏ @realMaalouf]

It’s 1 AM in Iran right now and everyone is out in the streets celebrating.

Iranians deserve a life with freedom. 🦁

[Jacqui Budden @JacquiDelaney]

HAPPENING NOW: In Ottawa, en route to the US Embassy chanting thanks to the USA.

Immense happiness today for Iranian Canadians, who came here to flee a tyrannical regime, who now feel hope for their loved ones back in Iran.

[The White House @WhiteHouse]

"Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead. This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Great Americans, and those people from many Countries throughout the World, that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei..." - President Donald J. Trump

[Blake Hall @Blake_Hall]

@brhodes Coward. Your narcissism knows no limits. You were never qualified for your job. Now, you’re defending a regime that just slaughtered tens of thousands of innocent young people to defend a deal you made that didn’t work? Pathetic.

[Throwback Iran @Tarikh_Eran]

Unbelievable 😂

Iranian high school students are THANKING president Trump for striking the regime in Iran.

“I love Trump!” One student says

[Blake Hall @Blake_Hall]

American forces are bombing Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) bases in Iraq. This is a good thing. In 2007, Qais Khazali, a KH leader and Iranian proxy, kidnapped and executed American soldiers, including Captain Brian Freeman. He was bragging about his role only several months ago. Like many other terrorist leaders, we caught Qais — then released him. There was no justice for the Americans he executed. It’s long past time we settle the score. I hope that day is today.

[Blake Hall @Blake_Hall]

Those of us who fought in Iraq remember what Iran did to kill and maim our friends. Today, their families get some measure of justice. Now, it is up to the young people of Iran to take their country back.

[Historic Vids @historyinmemes]

Woman cutting her birthday cake in Iran 1973, 5 years before the Islamic Revolution

[Blake Hall @Blake_Hall]

@camhigby Pretty crazy. I’m former Army Infantry. We use a SALUTE report upon observation of enemy forces. Looks like they have prior military personnel involved.

[Blake Hall @Blake_Hall]

@IlyaAbyzov Congrats on the acquisition! Would love to talk about how our IdP at Veterans Affairs, CMS, and other healthcare companies can unlock data to feed into your app. https://t.co/J8TC8r4vx1

[Blake Hall @Blake_Hall]

@elonmusk Exactly. The way you find fraud is though identity verification so if there is no identity verification then there is no way to prove fraud. That’s what corrupt actors and politicians want - plausible deniability so they can steal money and power.

[CBS News @CBSNews]

“This feels like a breath of fresh air”: Venezuelans in South Florida poured into the streets of Doral early Saturday, celebrating the U.S. military action in Venezuela that led to the arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.

People carried Venezuela’s flag and sang together in the early morning hours. “It's not an act of war. It's an act of freedom,” one Venezuelan said.