Daily Articles

Conservatism, Libertarianism, and John Stuart Mill

by Laurence M. Vance May 1, 2022

Although most conservatives of today seem to have forgotten him, conservatives of yesteryear honored and revered Russell Kirk (1918–1994). After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State College (now University), Kirk earned his master’s degree at Duke University and then his doctor of letters from the University of St. Andrews. Kirk was a prolific writer who wrote not only ...

In the Beginning: The Mont Pelerin Society, 1947

by Richard M. Ebeling May 1, 2022

Seventy-five years ago, there occurred an important event in the post–World War II revival of free-market liberal ideas. Over the first ten days of April 1947, 39 people from Europe and the United States met in a hotel in Switzerland at a mountain place known as Mont Pelerin. They came together to discuss the future of economic, social, and ...

Human Irrationality and Free Markets

by Antony Sammeroff May 1, 2022

If everyone was irrational all of the time, we would be in big trouble. You’d never know when someone was suddenly going to swerve off the road for no apparent reason and drive into a building, or start babbling to you in tongues over the phone when all you wanted to do was order a pizza. That being said, people ...

Political Paternalism, Not Free Markets, Cause Economic Shocks

by Richard M. Ebeling April 29, 2022

One of the political paternalist tricks is to insist that any economic policy failure is more “proof” of the bankruptcy of the market economy. Once again, this worn-out device is employed by Columbia University professor and Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz. Any and all such presumed market “failures” are placed by Stiglitz under the umbrella term, “neoliberalism.” Neoliberalism has ...

We’re Only as Free as the Government Allows

by John W. Whitehead April 27, 2022

“Rights aren’t rights if someone can take them away. They’re privileges. That’s all we’ve ever had in this country, is a bill of temporary privileges. And if you read the news even badly, you know that every year the list gets shorter and shorter. Sooner or later, the people in this country are gonna realize the government … doesn’t ...

Ludwig von Mises’s Idea on Self-Determination Might Have Saved Ukraine

by Richard M. Ebeling April 25, 2022

With every passing day, the Russo-Ukrainian war becomes more of a huge human tragedy. The Ukrainian government admits that at least 3,000 of their military personnel have died, so far, in the conflict. According to the United Nations, there have been approximately 2,000 Ukrainian civilian deaths, but other sources suggest that actual number ...

Leftists Lose When People Move

by Scott McPherson April 22, 2022

Over half of the American people believe the country is on the “wrong track,” according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released back in February. And it's not even close. Sixty-three percent expressed this concern. By comparison, just 24 percent are happy with the state of the nation. Republicans and Independents, 86 percent and 67 percent respectively, are most alarmed, but ...

No-Knock Raids Rip a Hole in the Fourth Amendment

by John W. Whitehead April 20, 2022

“We’re all potential victims.”—Peter Christ, retired police officer It’s the middle of the night. Your neighborhood is in darkness. Your household is asleep. Suddenly, you’re awakened by a loud noise. Someone or an army of someones has crashed through your front door. The intruders are in your home. Your heart begins racing. Your stomach is tied in knots. The adrenaline is pumping ...

The Second Amendment Enshrines Our Right to Self-Defense

by Scott McPherson April 18, 2022

On April 1, four criminal thugs broke into a man’s house in Longre, France. Responding as any reasonable human would, the homeowner fired twice at the intruders with a rifle, killing one of them. Despite the forced entry into his home, and the fact that the man was protecting not just himself but his three-year-old daughter, police have charged ...

Republicans Miss the Real Issue Regarding TSA Scanners

by Laurence M. Vance April 15, 2022

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is back in the news again, and, as usual, it is not because the agency did something noteworthy. The TSA was established by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (S.1447) that was passed by the 107th Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush on November 19, 2001. No Republicans ...

Confronting Evil Here at Home

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 13, 2022

Americans have no difficulty identifying and confronting evil when it is found in foreign regimes. A good example is Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine. Most every American is easily able to identify the evil of that invasion and is more than willing to confront and oppose it. But as I point out in my new book An ...

‘We the People’ Are the New, Permanent Underclass in America

by John W. Whitehead April 12, 2022

“We are now speeding down the road of wasteful spending and debt, and unless we can escape we will be smashed in inflation.”—Herbert Hoover This is financial tyranny. The U.S. government—and that includes the current administration—is spending money it doesn’t have on programs it can’t afford, and “we the taxpayers” are the ones who must foot the bill for the government’s ...