The Libertarian Solution by Laurence M. Vance January 1, 2016 The United States of America is facing some major issues in the twenty-first century. The national debt is $18.5 trillion. The budget deficit is $500 billion. Homelessness is widespread in most major cities. Student-loan debt is more than a trillion dollars. Social Security and Medicare are insolvent. Government spending continues to skyrocket. There are more than 45 million Americans ...
Closed-Border Libertarians: It’s Time to End the War on Immigration by Will Tippens January 1, 2016 Warrantless searches and seizures on a massive scale, bureaucratic logjams, arbitrary edicts that squelch freedom of association, unchecked waste and corruption — it is difficult to reconcile any of these symptoms of big government with liberty. And yet, many who strongly value freedom still support all of them in the name of border control. For these “closed-border libertarians”, the argument ...
Welcome Back to Freedom by Matthew Harwood January 1, 2016 The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld by Jamie Bartlett (Brooklyn: Melville House Publishing, 2015), 320 pages. Do you really want someone to die? If you could help bring about someone’s demise by anonymously and securely placing a bet on when that particular someone might take a dirtnap, would you? That’s the premise of the Assassination Market, an ...
The Tyranny of Eminent Domain by David S. D'Amato January 1, 2016 The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London and the Limits of Eminent Domain by Ilya Somin (University of Chicago Press, 2015), 336 pages. The Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London has become infamous, singled out by defenders of liberty and property for special opprobrium. The Court’s opinion was a sobering reminder ...
Support FFF: With Crises Come Opportunities for Freedom by Jacob G. Hornberger December 31, 2015 I am writing to seek your financial support to help us continue the battle for liberty in the year ahead. The advocates of the welfare-warfare state say that paternalism is freedom, compulsory charity is a virtue, federal spending and debt will bring prosperity, and perpetual war will bring peace. Their world is ...
What’s in Store for Our Freedoms in 2016? More of Everything We Don’t Want by John W. Whitehead December 30, 2015 “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”—George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Vol. 1 In Harold Ramis’ classic 1993 comedy Groundhog Day, TV weatherman Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray) is forced to live the same day over and over again until he not only gains some insight into his life but changes his priorities. Similarly, as I ...
The Libertarian Angle – Prospects for Liberty in 2016 by Future of Freedom Foundation December 29, 2015 Each week, FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard M. Ebeling discuss the hot topics of the day. This week, Jacob and Richard review what is coming in the year ahead. The Libertarian Angle airs weekly. Go to the podcast.
The Fear Of Terrorism Is Destroying Our Freedom by Richard M. Ebeling December 28, 2015 The year that is just closing, 2015, has been full of events that continue to dominate the news, including renewed racial tensions on the streets of American cities, growing fears about terrorist attacks on the territory of the United States, and one of the most fear-focused presidential campaign seasons in living memory. Through it all there is one underlying thread ...
What If Jesus Had Been Born 2,000 Years Later in the American Police State? by John W. Whitehead December 23, 2015 “Two thousand years later … the memory of the revolutionary zealot who walked across Galilee gathering an army of disciples with the goal of establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, the magnetic preacher who defied the authority of the Temple priesthood in Jerusalem, the radical Jewish nationalist who challenged the Roman occupation and lost, has been almost completely ...
The Libertarian Angle: Christmas and Libertarianism by Future of Freedom Foundation December 22, 2015 Merry Christmas! Each week, FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard M. Ebeling discuss the hot topics of the day. This week, Jacob and Richard discuss the libertarian angle on Christmas! The Libertarian Angle airs weekly. Go to the podcast.
There Is No Social Security Santa Claus by Richard M. Ebeling December 21, 2015 At this annual time of good cheer it might seem Grinch-like to challenge the spirit of Santa Claus, but the reality is that there is no jolly, bearded, rotund man in a red suit who brings us goodies for free. And the Congressional Budget Office has ...
Five Years Is Five Years Too Long by Laurence M. Vance December 17, 2015 I mentioned in my article “The Prospects for Drug Freedom” back in 2012 that Oregon was one of the first states to legalize medical marijuana and that sixteen other states and the District of Columbia had done likewise. I am happy to report that after three years, that number is now up to twenty-three states, Puerto Rico, ...