Free Society

Clinton and Trump are Both the Face of Plunder and Paternalism

by Richard M. Ebeling July 20, 2016

Whether it is Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump who stands on the steps of the Capital Building in Washington, D.C in January 2017 to take the oath of office as president of the United States, all public opinion polls suggest that that person will have among the highest unfavorable ratings for anyone beginning their time in the White House. According to an Associated Press poll taken in early ...

Self-Determination and Individual Choice in a Post-Brexit World

by Richard M. Ebeling July 13, 2016

The recent vote within the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union has implicitly once again raised the issue of the right of self-determination through secession.  In other words, do individuals have a right to determine under which political authority they shall live and have representation? This is, of course, an almost taboo subject in the United States because ...

Not a Better Way

by Laurence M. Vance July 11, 2016

House Speaker Paul Ryan has come out with yet another one of his plans. As chairman of the House Budget Committee, he oversaw the release of numerous plans to reform the welfare state and strengthen the warfare state. His newest plan, A Better Way: Our Vision for a Competent America, is more of the same. ...

Boy Scouts and the Love of Freedom

by James Bovard July 1, 2016

Some of my anarcho-libertarian tendencies arose thanks to the years I spent as a Boy Scout. Joining the Scouts was an easy decision, since my father was a Scoutmaster. Even without the family obligation, I might have signed up because Troop 52, based in Front Royal, Virginia, took many exhilarating excursions. My father had a knack for convincing boys ...

Freedom of Art Is a Prerequisite of Morality

by Wendy McElroy June 22, 2016

To many, freedom of art is a synonym for freedom of speech, but the former is best understood as a distinct subset. Unlike normal speech or rational discourse, the purpose of art is not primarily to convince or to instruct. It is to make people experience a visceral reaction. Art, and particularly literature, allow people to sense the emotions, ...

Is There a Constitutional Right to Birth Control?

by Laurence M. Vance June 13, 2016

The junior senator from New Jersey, Democrat Cory Booker, recently introduced a bill “to establish certain duties for pharmacies to ensure provision of Food and Drug Administration-approved contraception, and for other purposes.” An offhand remark by one of the bill’s co-sponsors is an ideal segue to the question of the role of government in relation to private, peaceful activity. The ...

Ali Is Dead, Fear is Alive & Free Speech Is Being Dealt a Knock-Out Punch

by John W. Whitehead June 7, 2016

“What are the defenders of free speech to do? The sad fact is that this fundamental freedom is on its heels across America. Politicians of both parties want to use the power of government to silence their foes. Some in the university community seek to drive it from their campuses. And an entire generation of Americans is being taught ...

The Keys to Human Prosperity: Individual Liberty and the Rule of Law

by Richard M. Ebeling May 30, 2016

We live at time when, increasingly, the U.S. government operates in arbitrary and discretionary ways. Government regulatory agencies seemingly have unrestrained powers over land-use, business manufacturing and enterprise, the workplace and the environment under broad legislative mandates. And proposals are now frequently being made for ad hoc restrictions and prohibitions on freedoms of speech, press, religion and association.  The ...

The Shameful Truth About the Government’s Secret Experiments

by John W. Whitehead May 11, 2016

“Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us ...

Don’t Sleep Through the Revolution: A Graduation Message for a Dark Age

by John W. Whitehead May 3, 2016

“The most striking fact about the story of Rip Van Winkle is not that he slept 20 years, but that he slept through a revolution. While he was peacefully snoring up on the mountain, a great revolution was taking place in the world - indeed, a revolution which would, at points, change the course of history. And ...

Bipartisan Battering of Freedom

by James Bovard May 1, 2016

For more than 40 years, Republicans have been promising to cut federal spending. In the same period, federal outlays have inched up by a few trillion dollars. But the Grand Old Party continues singing the same song — though voters may finally be losing confidence in the opposition team. The latest pratfall occurred last December, once again illustrating that Republican ...

Censored, Surveilled, Watch Listed and Jailed

by John W. Whitehead April 28, 2016

“You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.”—George Orwell, 1984 In past ages, those who dared to speak out against tyranny—viewed as an act of treason—were blinded, castrated, disfigured, mutilated, rendered mute by having their tongues cut out of their heads, and ultimately ...