Explore Freedom

Open Societies and Spontaneous Orders

by Richard M. Ebeling April 20, 2012

Popper, Hayek and the Open Society by Calvin Hayes (London/New York: Routledge, 2009); 284 pages. Friedrich A. Hayek and Karl Popper were two of the most influential and internationally recognized critics of totalitarian collectivism in the 20th century. Hayek’s Road to Serfdom (1944) and Popper’s Open Society and Its Enemies (1945) helped change the intellectual climate at a time when ... [click for more]

The Greatest Threat to our Freedom, Part 3

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 30, 2012

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 The most significant aspect of the case of Jose Padilla is not the horrific treatment to which he was subjected but the fact that what was done to him can now be legally done to every other American citizen. On May 8, 2002 — about eight months after ... [click for more]

Obama Codifies Indefinite Detention

by Sheldon Richman March 27, 2012

In yet another reversal of his professed commitment to the rule of law, President Obama says he will sign the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which formalizes his authority to imprison terrorism suspects indefinitely without charge or trial. Where is the “progressive” outrage? George W. Bush and Obama both claimed that the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) ... [click for more]

Abolish the Postal Monopoly

by James Bovard March 11, 2012

Since the 1840s, it has been a federal crime to provide better mail service than Uncle Sam chooses to provide. The Postal Service has a monopoly on first-class mail delivery (with a limited exemption for urgent, courier-delivered letters costing more than $3). The monopoly has become more indefensible with each passing decade — especially since the government has been ... [click for more]

The Road to the Permanent Warfare State, Part 11

by Gregory Bresiger March 10, 2012

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 |Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 |Part 12 |Part 13 In reviewing the history of the English Government, its wars and ... [click for more]

With Freedom and Justice for Some, Part 2

by Glenn Greenwald March 6, 2012

Part 1 | Part 2 Revealingly, the central function of the Constitution as law — the supreme law — was to impose limitations not on the behavior of ordinary citizens but on the federal government itself. The government, and those who ran it, were not placed outside the law, but expressly targeted by it. Indeed, the ... [click for more]

The Natural Right to Be Free

by Laurence M. Vance March 1, 2012

It Is Dangerous to Be Right When the Government Is Wrong: The Case for Personal Freedom by Andrew P. Napolitano (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011); 240 pages. Three recent books on libertarianism — Jeffrey A. Miron’s Libertarianism, from A to Z (Basic Books, 2010); Jacob H. Huebert’s Libertarianism Today (Praeger, 2010); and Tom G. Palmer’s Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, ... [click for more]

The Greatest Threat to Our Freedom, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 27, 2012

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Suppose a nation’s constitution prohibits the ruler of the country from infringing fundamental, God-given rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, privacy, economic liberty, and gun rights. Suppose also that the constitution provides a myriad of procedural obstacles and obstructions before the government can ... [click for more]

War with Iran Would Be Madness

by Sheldon Richman February 10, 2012

Barack Obama’s refusal to rule out military action against Iran, and several Republican presidential candidates’ pledge to launch a war if elected, should appall anyone who believes, with the free-market liberal Ludwig von Mises, that “not war, but peace, is the father of all things.” If the U.S. government or Israel were to attack Iran, all hell would break loose. ... [click for more]

TSA — Tenth Anniversary of a National Nightmare

by James Bovard February 8, 2012

Less than a month after the 9/11 attacks, George W. Bush promised Americans, “We will not surrender our freedom to travel.” In hindsight, he may have been referring to himself and other high-ranking government officials. Because for all other Americans, airline travel has become more arduous and more perilous in the past ten years. The Bush administration and Congress responded ... [click for more]

The Road to the Permanent Warfare State Part 10

by Gregory Bresiger February 5, 2012

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 |Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 |Part 12 |Part 13 Of all the enemies to public liberty, war is, perhaps, the ... [click for more]

With Freedom and Justice for Some, Part 1

by Glenn Greenwald February 2, 2012

Part 1 | Part 2 As a litigator who practiced for more than a decade in federal and state courts across the country, I’ve long been aware of the inequities that pervade the American justice system. The rich enjoy superior legal representation and therefore much better prospects for success in court than the poor. The powerful ... [click for more]