America’s Disappeared by Andy Worthington February 22, 2013 Injustices do not become any less unjust the longer they are unaddressed; and when it comes to the “war on terror” launched by George W. Bush following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, those injustices continue to fester and to poison America's soul. One of those injustices is Guantánamo, where 166 men are still imprisoned, even though
An Oracle of Tyranny by Bruce Fein February 22, 2013 Charles Krauthammer’s defense in the Washington Post (Feb. 15, 2013) of President Obama’s limitless power to kill any living thing on the planet in the name of opposing terrorism may carry some charms as a catechism. But — to paraphrase an aspersion cast on the Charge of the Light Brigade — it is not law. Krauthammer rhetorically asks, ...
The Calling: I Have Seen the Future of Freedom by Steven Horwitz February 21, 2013 Even before I started writing regularly for The Future of Freedom Foundation, I had thought a lot about the future of freedom and how those of us who care deeply about liberty in all its dimensions are going to bring about the world we want to see. For the over 30 years I’ve been involved in the libertarian movement, ...
Gun Control, Europe and America by Scott McPherson February 21, 2013 After the turbulent years 1968–1972, the widespread civil unrest that plagued Northern Ireland calmed to a point deemed “an acceptable level of violence” by then British home secretary Reginald Maudling. City centers and army barracks were still being bombed; policemen and soldiers were still being shot. But things weren’t as bad as they had been, and so were considered ...
The American People Need Real Spending Cuts by Sheldon Richman February 20, 2013 President Obama and other so-called progressives insist that the American people are not overly dependent on government. They also predict dire consequences if the automatic budget “cuts” known as sequestration take place March 1. Both claims cannot be true. If modest across-the-board “cuts” — mainly cuts in the rate of growth — in military and domestic spending pose a threat ...
Identity Politics Über Alles by Wendy McElroy February 20, 2013 Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) is backing a bill to reinstate the draft, but he wants to include women this time. Gender and liberal feminists are responding in various ways, but they seem to have arrived at the same conclusion: an endorsement of drafting women. The why of it Many gender and liberal feminists view female conscription as a Left ...
Discounts and a Free Society by Laurence M. Vance February 19, 2013 We have all been there: a nice restaurant, a quiet evening, a companion of the opposite sex — only to have the experience shattered by loud, ill-mannered, or unruly kids. From coast to coast, some restaurants have begun placing signs on their doors and menus saying things such as, “We love children, especially when they are tucked in ...
Immigration, the Constitution, and Liberty by Tim Kelly February 19, 2013 Immigration is one of those intractable wedge issues. It is, for the most part, a problem created by government meddling — and therefore any “solution” implemented by the government is more likely to aggravate the situation than improve it. First, let me state that I believe the federal government to have no authority over immigration except to create uniform laws ...
The Jacob Hornberger Show: February 17, 2013 (Video) by Jacob G. Hornberger February 18, 2013 The Jacob Hornberger Show airs live every Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. eastern on the Future of Freedom Foundation’s Ustream channel.
TGIF: Mind Your Metaphors by Sheldon Richman February 15, 2013 Metaphor consists in giving a thing a name that belongs to something else. — Aristotle, Poetics Language is metaphorical through and through. — Thomas Szasz, Insanity: The Idea and Its Consequences In a lecture delivered at the London School of Economics in March 1933, F.A. Hayek, a 33-year-old economist recently appointed to the faculty, lamented that the “oldest and most general ...
Is Today’s Argentina Tomorrow’s America? by Michael Tennant February 15, 2013 Americans wondering what to expect as their government piles on more debt and refuses to cut spending do not need to look any further than Argentina. A nation once among the most prosperous in the world is now deeply in debt, hemorrhaging cash, and trying to inflate its way out of the mess it has created. This inflation, naturally, ...
The Calling: The Everyday Marvels of the Market by Steven Horwitz February 14, 2013 Those of us who live in largely market-based economies can too easily take for granted what we might call the everyday marvels of the market. We find ourselves with things that would have amazed and mystified people just a couple of generations ago. If we think of the marvels the market delivers, we normally think of technology, but fancy ...