The Lonely Realist
Political & Financial Commentary

The Lonely Realist is a bridge across the partisan gap, raising questions and making pointed observations about politics, economics, international relations and the markets. Its goal is to raise awareness and inspire thought on controversial issues that impact America and Americans, highlighting issues that should be, but rarely are, the focus of bipartisan discussion.


In seeking to promote dialogue, The Lonely Realist is not an advocate of conclusions or remedies. To the extent perceived biases leak into these pages, as they sometimes do, please ignore them. They are inadvertent missteps. 

  • “People today go to school to prepare for a job. Previous generations went to school to prepare for life. Both are necessary.” – The Lonely Realist America became the greatest nation on Earth because it had the best education system on Earth … from kindergarten...

  • “To what extent should regulators have discretion to interpret America’s laws?” – The Lonely Realist Ronald Reagan famously said, “If you want more of something, subsidize it. If you want less, tax it.” He could have added “And if you want to further a political...

  • “The foundations of Conservatism continue to crumble.” – The Lonely Realist Being a Conservative in 2023 does not have the same meaning as being a Conservative in the 1980s … or even as recently as in 2015 (when the Freedom Caucus was founded). Classical American...

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More by TLR

America’s Minsky Moment?

“Americans are restless and confused, searching for direction, empty and aching without quite understanding why.” – The Lonely Realist Simon & Garfunkel released the song “America” in 1968, the year in which Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated, the year in

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Wake-up or Deny, that is the Choice

Americans have awakened.  They’ve become “woke,” a term deriving its meaning from African American slang.  “Woke” came into the English language more than a decade ago when “stay woke” referred to the need for awareness about racial injustice issues.  The Woke Movement has since expanded

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The Faithless Electors of America’s Electoral College*

The Faithless Electors of America’s Electoral College Americans have been complaining about the compromises that went into creation of the Electoral College for centuries … almost since the first days of the Republic. An editorial headline in the August 30th New York Times captured the

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William (Bill) Natbony is The Lonely Realist, its author and originator. The opinions expressed in TLR are solely Bill’s opinions, have not been edited or reviewed, and do not reflect the views or opinions or any other person.