Freedom Daily Archive

Cuba and the Destruction of Conscience

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 1, 2021

Last summer, protests erupted in Cuba against the communist regime over poor economic and health conditions within the country. No doubt operating under pressure from the Pentagon and the CIA, President Biden used the Cuban government’s suppression of the protests as an excuse to strengthen the decades-old U.S. economic embargo against Cuba. Biden proclaimed that he was supporting the Cuban ...

The Biden Crackdown on Thought Crimes

by James Bovard October 1, 2021

The Biden administration is seeking to radically narrow the boundaries of respectable American political thought. The administration has repeatedly issued statements and reports that could automatically castigate citizens who distrust the federal government. We may eventually learn that the new Biden guidelines spurred a vast increase in federal surveillance and other abuses against Americans who were guilty of nothing ...

Predatory Pricing

by Laurence M. Vance October 1, 2021

Uncle Sam can’t seem to make up his mind about how to define predatory pricing. Charge too little for a good or a service and the federal government might term it predatory pricing. But charge too much for a good or a service and the federal government might term it predatory pricing. And here is a related ...

The Importance of Liberty and the Rhetorical Misuse of Freedom

by Richard M. Ebeling October 1, 2021

The seemingly singular concern of modern political debate, dispute, and disagreement is the issue of how and in what forms government will command and control and restrict and regulate the actions and interactions of virtually everyone in society, as well as redistribute the income and wealth of some for the benefit of others. Open the opinion pages of practically any ...

Deserting the Drug War

by Matthew Harwood October 1, 2021

As you leaf through the first few pages of Dr. Carl L. Hart’s book Drug Use for Grownups, you come across a quote from the writer and social critic James Baldwin. It says: “If you want to get to the heart of the dope problem, legalize it.... a law, in operation, that can only be used against ...

The Conflicts of Visions That Shaped America

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2021

There have been two conflicting visions in American history that have shaped our nation. As conditions in the United States continue to worsen, it is important that Americans engage in serious soul-searching to determine which vision should be embraced going forward. The original vision The first vision was that which characterized the American people from the founding of the United States ...

Why Government Cover-Ups Succeed

by James Bovard September 1, 2021

“It’s not necessary to censor the news, it’s sufficient to delay the news until it no longer matters,” Napoleon Bonaparte reportedly said. The same standard helps explain why Washington politicians and federal agencies usually get away with covering up their lies and abuses. Many people assume that unless the government actively censors, people will learn what the government has done. ...

Puritanism: Then and Now

by Laurence M. Vance September 1, 2021

Journalist, editor, and literary and social critic Henry Louis “H. L.” Mencken (1880–1956) adopted the moniker “libertarian” years before it became popular to do so. In a letter of 1920, he wrote: “I am an extreme libertarian, and believe in absolute free speech.” In a book-review column of 1922, he wrote, “I am, in brief, a libertarian of the ...

The American Spirit of Liberty versus Modern Tribal Racism

by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 2021

In a number of recent speeches, President Joe Biden has been repeating that America is founded not on an ethnicity or a religion or a language but on an “idea.” He has emphasized that the nature of this idea is that human beings do not derive their rights from the government but instead cede some of those rights for ...

There’s No Such Thing as “Market Fundamentalism,” Part 2

by George Leef September 1, 2021

Part 1 | Part 2 If “market fundamentalism” were a serious phenomenon, you would think the authors could give some clear examples of it — as they do for fundamentalist opponents of economic freedom. (There are a great many people who automatically dismiss arguments in favor of economic liberty, calling them “right-wing” propaganda motivated by sheer greed; ...

Raising a Standard to Achieve Liberty

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 2021

One of the things that distinguish libertarians from non-libertarians is that we libertarians know that we are not free. Non-libertarians are still convinced that they are free. That’s one reason why non-libertarians are befuddled by libertarians. When they ask us what we are all about, we sometimes respond that we are about bringing liberty to America. That ...

Red Light Robberies Across America

by James Bovard August 1, 2021

Crime is surging in American cities, but the official data leave out the most frequent source of highway robberies. More than 400 cities have set up red light cameras that are institutionalized racketeering that subverts public safety. Tens of thousands of American drivers have been injured and many people killed as a result of reckless revenue pursuit ...