Libertarianism Doesn’t Pretend to Solve Socialist Woes by Jacob G. Hornberger May 13, 2013 Last week, the New York Times reported: The level of the most important heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, has passed a long-feared milestone, scientists reported Friday, reaching a concentration not seen on the earth for millions of years…. The best available evidence suggest the amount of gas in the air has not been this high for ...
Repeal the Federal Income Tax by Jacob G. Hornberger May 10, 2013 The New York Times reports that 37-year-old Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Lauryn Hill just drew a 3-month jail sentence for income-tax evasion. She pled guilty to failing to file tax returns for three years. She told the judge that she was unable to pay the taxes after dropping out of the music business to take care of her children ...
Guantanamo and the Bill of Rights by Jacob G. Hornberger May 9, 2013 When one considers the Bill of Rights, an obvious question arises: Why did our American ancestors demand the enactment of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments? The answer is simple: Our ancestors believed that in the absence of those amendments, U.S. officials would end up subjecting people to the types of things that those amendments restricted. That is, if ...
Unlimited Government Abroad Means No Freedom at Home by Jacob G. Hornberger May 8, 2013 I find it amusing when I see people who profess to favor a free society and a free-market economic system here in the United States while, at the same time, favoring unlimited government overseas. Why is that amusing? Because it can’t be done. Freedom and unlimited government are opposites. You can’t have both. Unlimited government overseas necessarily means no ...
Christians’ Rebuke of God by Jacob G. Hornberger May 7, 2013 One of the primary justifications for the welfare state comes from Christian statists. They say that the welfare state demonstrates the willingness of the American people to fulfill God’s commandments with respect to human relationships. The Ten Commandments includes, “Thou shalt honor thy mother and father.” In the New Testament, Christ tells us that the second-greatest commandment is, “Thou shalt ...
Our Southwest Speaking Tour by Jacob G. Hornberger May 6, 2013 Wow! What a great tour in the American Southwest spreading ideas on liberty. That’s where I was all last week. The trip began with a reception on Monday evening sponsored by the Freedom Library, a fantastic organization that for many years has been teaching students and adults the principles of freedom and free markets. In fact, the head of ...
On the Road Again by Jacob G. Hornberger April 29, 2013 I’m on the road again this week doing our Southwest speaking tour — Yuma, Phoenix, and Dallas, so blogging is likely to be periodic rather than daily. Details on the events are posted below. Admission is open to the public. The Yuma event costs five dollars. The Phoenix and Dallas events are free. If you’re in any of these ...
Boston Involves a Choice by Jacob G. Hornberger April 25, 2013 Ever since 9/11, U.S. officials have emphasized that their so-called war on terrorism should now be considered a permanent part of American life. They say that the United States will now be under the threat of terrorism for the next several decades. This will necessitate not just the continued existence of the national-security state but also ever-increasing budgets for ...
Avoiding Reality on Terrorist Motivation by Jacob G. Hornberger April 24, 2013 Before 19-year-old Dzhokar Tsarnaev was interrogated, President Obama asked, “Why did these young men who grew up and studied here as part of our communities and our country resort to such violence?” Yesterday, the Washington Post provided the answer to the president in a news article entitled, “Boston Bombing Suspect Cites U.S. Wars as Motivation, Officials Say.” According to ...
Upcoming FFF Speaking Events by Jacob G. Hornberger April 23, 2013 We’ve all become so accustomed to communicating on the Internet via such things as email, websites, webinars, live-streaming, Facebook, and the like that it’s easy to forget the enjoyment and value of person-to-person speeches. In the last few weeks, I’ve given speeches at three college campuses--the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Albany, New York, and ...
Are the Boston Deaths and Injuries Worth It? by Jacob G. Hornberger April 22, 2013 Whether we call them criminals or terrorists, the issue of motive in the Boston bombings is becoming increasingly clear. The bombers were motivated to kill people at the Boston Marathon by the death and destruction wreaked by the U.S. national-security state in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and neighboring areas. That’s not to say, of course, that statists aren’t doing their best ...
Foreign Policy and Gun Control in Boston by Jacob G. Hornberger April 19, 2013 I wish to make two observations about the bombings in Boston, one relating to U.S. foreign policy and one relating to gun control. Ever since the 9/11 attacks, many Americans simply have been unable to fathom that foreigners can get so angry over the U.S. government’s actions in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and elsewhere that they end up retaliating with ...