Reparations Nonsense by Christine Smith March 11, 2019 Once again we are hearing that reparations should be given to black Americans, this time as political campaign rhetoric from several Democratic presidential candidates. As this subject surfaces again, it’s interesting to observe how many people of differing political ideologies appear to be confused by it. But it’s really very simple: There is no legitimate property-rights claim to be ...
Guns Rights and Property Rights by Laurence M. Vance March 8, 2019 What is the relationship between gun rights and property rights? Because of recent actions by a state legislature, it might be best to look at this issue through the lens of church shootings. In October 2018, 11 people were killed and 7 injured in a mass shooting at the Tree of Life Congregation synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In November 2017, ...
The Global Economy Desperately Needs Freedom by Richard M. Ebeling March 7, 2019 How many bureaucrats are there in the world? The global population currently numbers more than 7.5 billion people. Out of that number it is estimated that the global labor force equals almost 3.5 billion, or a half a billion less than half of all the people on the planet. While it varies very greatly from one country to another, ...
The Libertarian Angle: Monetary Central Planning (video) by Future of Freedom Foundation March 6, 2019 Would the free market allocate money as efficiently as other goods? Of course! FFF president Jacob G. Hornberger and Citadel economics professor Richard M. Ebeling discuss. Go to the podcast.
Forced Blood Draws & Implied Consent Laws Make a Mockery of the Fourth Amendment by John W. Whitehead March 6, 2019 “The Fourth Amendment was designed to stand between us and arbitrary governmental authority. For all practical purposes, that shield has been shattered, leaving our liberty and personal integrity subject to the whim of every cop on the beat, trooper on the highway and jail official.” — Herman Schwartz, The Nation You think you’ve got rights? Think ...
Term Limits Are Not the Answer by Laurence M. Vance March 4, 2019 Franklin D. Roosevelt has the distinction of being the only man to be elected to the office of the presidency four times (1932, 1936, 1940, and 1944). The nation’s first president, George Washington, after serving two terms as president (1789–1797), famously declined to seek a third term as president. (If he had done so, and won, he would have ...
Understanding the JFK Assassination, Part 6 by Jacob G. Hornberger March 1, 2019 This series will be published in a forthcoming book. Details to follow.
George H.W. Bush’s Forgotten Debacles and Demagoguery by James Bovard March 1, 2019 After former President George H.W. Bush died late last year, he was widely hailed as a great leader and patriot. At the National Cathedral funeral service, biographer Jon Meachan declared that Bush was a “twentieth-century Founding Father.” The minister of Bush’s church in Houston compared him to Jesus. Bush’s gentlemanly manners were lauded by many people outraged by President ...
Blasphemy Laws and Other Victimless Crimes by Laurence M. Vance March 1, 2019 Pakistan is a Muslim country with harsh blasphemy laws. In 1986, during the military rule of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, it became a capital offence for anyone to insult the prophet Mohammed. Government officials who opposed the nation’s blasphemy laws have been assassinated. Late last year, a Christian woman in Pakistan, Aasiya Noreen, who had been convicted of blasphemy by a ...
The Fallacy of a Government Shutdown, the Reality of Freedom Lost by Richard M. Ebeling March 1, 2019 Another partial federal government “shutdown” began on December 22, 2018. The impression from the media and other commentaries easily suggested that the political and economic sky was about to fall. Various government departments were closed and some government services were reduced. And the fear was fostered that soon masses of people would be dying in the streets or driven ...
The Ongoing Destruction of the Minds of Children by Gary D. Barnett March 1, 2019 There can be no greater stretch of arbitrary power than to seize children from their parents, teach them whatever the authorities decree they shall be taught, and expropriate from the parents the funds to pay for the procedure. — Isabel Paterson Compulsory schooling is a travesty. To call it education is absurd. Real education is lifelong learning as an individual, while ...
Pull That Veil Away! by Leonard Read March 1, 2019 Combatting statism is not, as many assume, a project in propaganda; it is, instead, a probing operation. The problem is not one of merely getting others to grasp the little we already know; it is far more a matter of discovering that which we ourselves do not yet understand. A major area of exploration, of course, is to find new ...