Explore Freedom

The Court Almost Gets It Right on Guns

by Sheldon Richman October 1, 2008

Advocates of freedom barely dodged a bullet when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the right to keep and bear arms, the subject of the Second Amendment, is an individual not a collective right. Opponents of gun ownership have long maintained that the Amendment’s reference to the militia indicates that the right does not apply to private individuals. Thankfully, ... [click for more]

The Nanny State

by Laurence M. Vance October 1, 2008

Whenever some new perceived crisis comes along, Americans typically look to the state as a problem solver. Are we running out of oil? The government should increase CAFE standards so that cars are more fuel-efficient. Is gas too expensive? The government should limit the profits of oil companies. Is the planet getting warmer? The government should mandate reductions in ... [click for more]

Who Are You Calling Selfish?

by Michael Tennant October 1, 2008

In an early episode of the television series Bewitched, Harold Harold (Paul Lynde), a highly nervous driving instructor, tries to teach Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery) how to drive a car. At one point in the lesson he instructs her to go the wrong way in a traffic circle. Samantha, however, ... [click for more]

The Authoritarianism of American Labor Law

by George Leef October 1, 2008

American labor law is a dank miasma of special-interest legislation that tramples on the rights of some citizens in order to advance the interests of others. The main beneficiaries are labor-union officials who lobbied for and received extraordinary and unique powers from compliant politicians. The victims are business owners and workers who prefer to have ... [click for more]

A Revolutionary Manifesto

by Anthony Gregory October 1, 2008

The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2008); 173 pages. Ron Paul’s grassroots campaign — a decentralized undertaking that always had much more to do with the principles of the American Revolution, liberty, free enterprise, and peace than with narrowly defined electoral success — has ... [click for more]

Seven Years of Darkness, Tyranny, and Oppression

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2008

The year 1989 was a year of a great celebration. For that was the year that that hated and reviled symbol of tyranny, empire, and oppression, the Berlin Wall, came crashing down. Not only were the people of East Germany and Eastern Europe celebrating the demise of the Wall, so were ... [click for more]

Habeas Corpus Barely Saved

by Sheldon Richman September 1, 2008

Once in a while the fading embers of freedom flare with defiant vigor. That happened in June when the U.S. Supreme Court sternly informed the Bush administration that it may not hold people suspected of being terrorists indefinitely without charge and without judicial review at its prison at Guantanámo Bay, Cuba. In a too-close-for-comfort 5-4 ruling, ... [click for more]

Are Democrats Better on Privacy and Surveillance?

by James Bovard September 1, 2008

The Bush administration has probably illegally violated Americans’ privacy more than any presidency in at least a generation. Many Americans are understandably ready to throw out Republicans who trampled the Bill of Rights. But is the solution to elect a Democrat? Many liberals were shocked in July when putative Democratic Party presidential nominee Barack Obama ... [click for more]

Private Roads Work

by Bart Frazier September 1, 2008

The issue of private roads stymies those who might otherwise be diehard libertarians. They can see how abolishing public education makes for better citizens and respects parental rights. They understand that Medicare, Social Security, and other government transfer programs are immoral abominations. They might even be so enlightened as to think that people should be ... [click for more]

Habeas Corpus: The Bulwark of Our Liberties

by U.S. Supreme Court September 1, 2008

...We begin with a brief account of the history and origins of the writ. Our account proceeds from two propositions. First, protection for the privilege of habeas corpus was one of the few safeguards of liberty specified in a Constitution that, at the outset, had no Bill of Rights. In the system conceived by the Framers the writ had ... [click for more]

Farewell to Privacy

by Ridgway K. Foley Jr. September 1, 2008

States act predictably. An obscure professional official mutters an apparently innocuous statement to a small and equally obscure audience during a holiday period. In this fashion, states pretend full disclosure while simultaneously cloaking a forthcoming policy from critical insight and thoughtful appraisal. Consider the chilling utterance of one Donald Kerr during the Veterans Day 2007 weekend. Kerr, the principal deputy ... [click for more]

Sacrificing Liberty for Safety

by George Leef September 1, 2008

Neither Liberty Nor Safety by Robert Higgs (Independent Institute, 2007); 202 pages. Many readers will immediately recognize that the title of this book comes from one of Benjamin Franklin’s many political insights: “Those who would sacrifice essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Author ... [click for more]