The Early History of a Worldwide Nuisance by James Bovard July 1, 2009 Few federal agencies have as much bipartisan support as the National Endowment for Democracy. Created in 1983, NED’s stated mission is to “strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts.” In actuality, NED allows U.S. politicians to meddle in foreign elections at the same time they pretend to be spreading democracy. The previous year, Ronald Reagan had announced in a speech to the British Parliament, “Let us now begin ... a crusade for freedom that will engage the faith and fortitude of the next generation ... to foster the infrastructure of democracy.” NED’s first chief, Allen Weinstein, later explained the Endowment’s rationale in 1991: “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.” NED aimed to be cleaner than the CIA — not the loftiest standard. NED was created ...
The Price of Freedom? by Christine Smith July 1, 2009 What is it to be born free and not to live free? — Henry David Thoreau, “Life Without Principle” “Freedom is not free” is a common phrase found in songs, in speeches, and on ribbons, and it’s the inscription inlaid where the walls of the Korean War Veterans Memorial join. For many Americans, the words evoke an emotional response, a silent agreement, a nodding of the head. Most people feel to do otherwise would be disrespectful and would take for granted all those Americans who gave their lives for our freedom. I recently read a large number of essays written between 2003 and 2008 by teenagers across the country. The students’ papers repeatedly expressed the idea that freedom is not free and that taxes are good because they ...
The Pentagon’s Favorite Demon by Carlton Meyer June 18, 2009 In 1991, as pressure was mounting in the U.S. Congress to cut the Cold War-era military budget, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs General Colin Powell said: “I’m running out of demons. I’m running out of villains. I’m down to Castro and Kim Il Sung.” North Korea is still touted as a major threat to the United States, yet that conflict persists because of a refusal of the United States to agree to North Korea’s demand that all foreign troops leave the Korean peninsula once an armistice is signed. As some U.S. troops are withdrawn from Iraq and Congress looks to cut budgets, generals are busy exaggerating threats. North Korea’s million man army is mostly a collection of conscripts with old weaponry who spend most of their time harvesting crops. Its millions of “reservists” are ...
Terrorism Is a Crime by Sheldon Richman June 2, 2009 Contrary to the U.S. government’s position, acts of terrorism are crimes that have little in common with acts of war. The terrorists whom Americans worry about are not trying to overthrow the U.S. government or conquer and occupy the United States. Instead, they are trying to obtain vengeance for U.S. government intervention in the Middle ...
The Post9/11 Roundup of Innocents, Part 2 by Future of Freedom Foundation June 1, 2009 In the weeks after the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration constantly misrepresented how much power it was seeking over aliens. In a September 25 speech to FBI agents, Bush declared, Were asking Congress for the authority to hold suspected terrorists who are in the process of being deported until theyre deported.... We believe its a necessary tool to make ...
Obama’s Empire by Sheldon Richman May 12, 2009 Why isn’t the honeymoon over yet? That all peace advocates still haven’t broken with Barack Obama is ominous, indeed. Do they really hate war, empire, and colonialism? Or did they just hate George W. Bush and Dick Cheney? Obama has been in power more than 100 days, which is time enough to judge ...
The Post9/11 Roundup of Innocents, Part 1 by Future of Freedom Foundation May 1, 2009 Many Americans have been lulled into a false sense of security by the end of the George W. Bush administration. In reality, the government continues to pose grave perils to peoples rights and liberties. And it could take only one shocking incident for the government to once again show its heavy-handed ways. Prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks, the ...
A Free Market in Labor by George Leef May 1, 2009 Labor Economics from a Free Market Perspective: Employing the Unemployable by Walter Block (World Scientific, 2008); 393 pages. The first time I ever heard of Walter Block was in 1980, when a faculty colleague showed me his copy of Block’s book Defending the Undefendable. Knowing of my anarcho-capitalist views, my colleague said ...
Out of the Darkness by Jacob G. Hornberger April 29, 2009 It is refreshing to see that speakers at our 2007 and 2008 conferences “Restoring the Republic: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties” have continued speaking out in the defense of civil liberties and in opposition to the pro-empire, pro-intervention foreign policy that holds our nation in its grip. Many of the lawyers who spoke at the conference are taking a ...
Government Is the Systemic Risk by Sheldon Richman April 28, 2009 The Obama administration and congressional leaders assure us that the government can protect us from the “systemic risk” posed by big banks, insurance companies, and hedge funds. But who will protect us from the government? In light of all we’ve learned about the national government’s conduct in both domestic and ...
Obama Is Just another Political Hack by Jacob G. Hornberger April 20, 2009 While there’s always room for hope, so far it is clear that Barack Obama is just a standard political hack from Chicago who made it to the presidency, primarily through his gift of gab and through voter dissatisfaction with the standard political hacks in the Republican Party. While Obama has disclosed the Bush torture memos, ...
FDR and Compulsory Unionism Destroyed Jobs by Jim Powell April 16, 2009 For decades, labor unions struggled for power, but until the 1930s they had made little headway. Unions were based on force and violence, which repelled a substantial number of employees as well as employers. The aim had been to raise the wages of members above market levels, but this was only ...
