The Causes and Consequences of World War II, Part 2 by Richard M. Ebeling December 1, 1991 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 World War II was not a war between freedom and tyranny. Rather it was a conflict between alternative systems of collectivism. By the 1930s, there was not one major country devoted to and practicing the principles of classical liberalism — the political philosophy of individual liberty, free-market capitalism and free ...
Pearl Harbor: The Controversy Continues by Sheldon Richman December 1, 1991 At 7:53 am. on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a Japanese force of 183 fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes struck the United States Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Some 4,500 Americans were killed or wounded. As news of the surprise attack spread, William F. Friedman, an Army cryptanalyst who had helped to break the Japanese ...
The Much-Coveted World War II by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 1991 From the first grade in their government-approved schools, Americans are taught never to question the consequences of America's participation in World War II. "We defeated Hitler. Freedom prevailed over tyranny," we are taught "and there is nothing further to consider or discuss." The political indoctrination is so complete that the minds of many Americans will forever remain closed to ...
The Causes and Consequences of World War II, Part 1 by Richard M. Ebeling November 1, 1991 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 When World War II ended in 1945, most of Europe lay in ruins. German cities like Dresden and Hamburg had practically been cremated from day-and-night Allied fire-bombings. Warsaw had been almost leveled to the ground by the Germans. The scorched-earth policies of both the Nazis and the Soviets had left ...
The Consequences of World War II by Sheldon Richman November 1, 1991 World War II is often viewed as the last good war. In contrast to the wars that followed it — Korea and Vietnam, primarily World War II is said to have had a clear purpose: the smashing of Nazism and fascism and all the horrible things for which they stood. The description "last good war" also implies that the ...
A Liberal World Order by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 1991 The 20th century opened with great hopes for the future. For almost a hundred years, a major war had not disturbed the peace of Europe. And when military conflicts had broken out among the European nations, they had been localized and limited in both their duration and destruction. Most of the governments of Europe were either democracies or constitutional monarchies. ...
Players and Pawns: The Persian Gulf War by Jacob G. Hornberger July 1, 1991 For the greater part of this century, the United States government has plundered, looted, and terrorized the American people through the Internal Revenue Service. It has surreptitiously stolen people's income and savings through the Federal Reserve System. It has brutally enforced — through fines and imprisonment — rules and regulations governing people's peaceful economic activities. In a very real ...
Some Other Costs of War by Robert Higgs July 1, 1991 War always increases State power over the economy, and the Gulf war is no exception. Thus one of President Bush's first actions was, by executive fiat, to give himself total control over any corporation or industry, if he deems it necessary for the war effort. He can now requisition what he wants, without regard ...
The Vietnam War by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 1990 Being on the debate team at Virginia Military Institute during the 1970-71 school year was not easy. It was during this period of time that the collegiate protests against the Vietnam War were at their height. I will never forget the angry stares and outbursts when we participated, in our VMI uniforms, in debate ...
Foreign Policy and Foreign Wars by Richard M. Ebeling November 1, 1990 When the Founding Fathers wrote and then defended the case for passage of the Constitution in 1787-1788, they did so with a strong belief in the natural rights of man, rights that Thomas Jefferson had so eloquently expressed in the Declaration of Independence in 1776. But their idealism was tempered with stark realism, based on ...
Conscription by Daniel Webster November 1, 1990 This bill indeed is less undisguised in its object, and less direct in its means, than some of the measures proposed. It is an attempt to exercise the power of forcing the free men of this country into the ranks of an army, for the general purposes of war, under color of a military service. It is ...
Dying for Freedom in Panama by Jacob G. Hornberger May 1, 1990 Many brave people died as a result of the recent invasion of Panama. The United States government claimed that these lives were lost in the defense of freedom. Unfortunately, this is untrue. It is important first to observe that just as there have been two types of economic systems in the United States (free enterprise of the ...