Freedom Daily Archive

The Destruction of American Liberty

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 1, 2019

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, were a watershed event for the United States, not only because of the large death toll and property destruction but, more important, because they spelled the death knell for American liberty. Americans had already lost a large portion of their freedom when the federal government ...

The “Officer Friendly” Police Fantasy

by James Bovard October 1, 2019

Police in Tempe, Arizona, announced plans in July for a “positive ticketing” campaign to pull over drivers who had violated no traffic laws. A Phoenix TV station reported that the police would give the people they targeted free soft-drink coupons for Circle K as a reward for their “good driving behavior.” Police in other areas have run similar programs ...

Monsters and U.S. Foreign Policy

by Laurence M. Vance October 1, 2019

It looks like the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity will be having some competition. The formation of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft was recently announced. The think tank gets its name from John Quincy Adams. According to the organization’s website, The Quincy Institute promotes ideas that move U.S. foreign policy away from endless war and toward vigorous diplomacy ...

Habits of the Heart and Character of Mind

by Richard M. Ebeling October 1, 2019

In American election cycles all of the possible candidates for government office of both major political parties assure those who may vote for them in primaries and the general election that they are voices for the real or true “American values.” Voting for them is voting for what America has been, is, or should be all about. But what ...

Discrimination and Liberty

by Christine Smith October 1, 2019

Wise individuals discriminate all the time. Think about it. In today’s society, “discrimination” has become a trigger word used to vilify anyone who chooses not to associate with another because of a difference he rejects. As such, liberty is being trampled as freedom of speech, association, and even thought become prohibited. But “discrimination” is not a bad word. It is a ...

The Case for Open Immigration

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2019

Every American living today has lived his entire life under an immigration crisis. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. America’s system of immigration controls is based on the concept of central planning, which is a core feature of socialism, which, as anyone from North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela will attest, always produces crises. Government officials centrally plan the movements of millions ...

The Sham of Government Transparency

by James Bovard September 1, 2019

The Supreme Court in June ruled that the federal government can keep secret the food-stamp sales totals of grocery stores. By a 6 to 3 vote, the Court declared that such business records are exempt from disclosure under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This case, started eight years ago by the Argus Leader, a South Dakotan newspaper, ...

The Specter of Communism Is Haunting Illinois

by Laurence M. Vance September 1, 2019

A specter is haunting Illinois — the specter of communism. Although the governor of Illinois, Jay “J.B.” Pritzker, said earlier this summer, upon signing the state’s $40 billion budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, that the budget was balanced “for the first time in decades,” according to the state’s own actuarial calculations, the budget is actually billions in the red. ...

Free-Market Liberalism vs. Corrupted “Capitalism” and La-La Land Socialism

by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 2019

One of the issues that confronts the friends of freedom is how best to make the case for liberty as a political idea and ideal and as a policy proposal.  A central element in that is making sure that we know what it is that we are advocating and why, and what it is that we oppose and why. ...

Insane and Ill-Advised: Trump’s Future War with Iran, Part 2

by Danny Sjursen September 1, 2019

Part 1 | Part 2 Iran is an enigma to most American policymakers. Iranian foreign and defense policies, according to Kenneth Katzman, are “products of overlapping, and sometimes contradictory, motivations.” The key question is whether Iran is an expansionist, theocratic, Shia-chauvinist state, or a rational, defensive bulwark with only limited regional aspirations. While it is a bit of both, ...

Adhering to Principle to Achieve Liberty, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 2019

Part 1 | Part 2 In 1990, the first year of The Future of Freedom Foundation’s existence, I wrote an article entitled “Letting Go of Socialism” (www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/letting-socialism) in which I criticized the idea of school vouchers. I pointed out that vouchers were simply another socialist program in which government forcibly takes money from one group of people and gives ...

2002 Landmarks on the Road to “1984” Orwellian Hell

by James Bovard August 1, 2019

Next month will be the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Politicians and bureaucrats wasted no time after that carnage to unleash the Surveillance State on average Americans, treating every person like a terrorist suspect. Since the government failed to protect the public, Americans somehow forfeited their constitutional right to privacy. Despite heroic efforts by former NSA staffer Edward Snowden and a host of activists ...