Explore Freedom

Who Benefits from the War on Drugs?

by Tim Kelly February 23, 2012

Libertarians are absolutely correct about the war on drugs. Governments should have no say in what an adult ingests or consumes. And therefore all laws regulating or restricting the production, sale, or use of any drug or substance should be repealed. Libertarians are also correct in pointing out the drug war’s disastrous consequences. Drug prohibition has ... [click for more]

Nuclear Hypocrisy

by Laurence M. Vance February 22, 2012

Republican presidential candidates and officials in the U.S. government from the president on down have turned up the rhetoric against Iran. In his State of the Union address, Barack Obama stated, “America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal.” Secretary ... [click for more]

As the Underwear Bomber Receives a Life Sentence in Federal Court, Lawmakers Obsession with Military Trials Looks Idiotic

by Andy Worthington February 22, 2012

Last Thursday, February 16, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called underwear bomber, received a life sentence in a courtroom in Detroit. Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian, had tried and failed to blow up a plane bound for Detroit on Christmas Day 2009, receiving serious burns when the bomb failed to detonate. After he was apprehended, he was read his Miranda rights and ... [click for more]

The Trouble With Aid (video)

by Claudia R. Williamson February 21, 2012

On February 20, 2012, Claudia R. Williamson gave the following speech at The Future of Freedom Foundation’s “Economic Liberty Lecture Series.” The speech can viewed below in its entirety. [click for more]

Obama Administration Brainwashes Public on Afghanistan

by Sheldon Richman February 21, 2012

In 1967, Michigan Governor George W. Romney, a potential contender for the 1968 Republican presidential nomination, abandoned his earlier support for the war in Vietnam, which he had called “morally right and necessary.” Asked why he changed his position, Romney said, “When I came back from Viet Nam , I’d just had the ... [click for more]

The War on Terrorism, the Constitution, and Civil Liberties (video)

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 20, 2012

On February 18, 2012, the Future of Freedom Foundation sponsored a panel entitled "The War on Terrorism, the Constitution, and Civil Liberties" at the 5th annual International Students for Liberty Conference. The panel included Bruce Fein and FFF president Jacob G. Hornberger and was moderated by Jack Hunter. [click for more]

FFF/YAL Civil Liberties College Tour: War on Terrorism, Civil Liberties, and the Constitution (videos)

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 17, 2012

In the second week of February 2012, the Future of Freedom Foundation and Young Americans for Liberty cosponsored a panel entitled "The War on Terrorism, the Constitution, and Civil Liberties" that included Bruce Fein, Glenn Greenwald, and FFF president Jacob G. Hornberger. The panel visited Columbia University in New York, Indiana University/Purdue University in Indianapolis, Middle Tennessee State University ... [click for more]

No One Should Be Forced to Act against His Conscience

by Sheldon Richman February 16, 2012

A question arises from the recent controversy between President Obama and the Catholic Church that aches for an answer: If Catholic institutions have a right to abstain from paying for what morally offends them, why don’t the rest of us? The initial Obamacare rule held that all employers, in fulfilling their new legal requirement to provide health insurance to their ... [click for more]

In Defense of Censorship

by Laurence M. Vance February 15, 2012

I was intrigued by the headline I saw in an evangelical magazine: “Google, iTunes, Facebook All Censor Christian Views.” The article turned out to be about the recent release at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., of a report by the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) on censorship by “new media” communications platforms. The report is called True Liberty in a ... [click for more]

The Missing Peace Dividend

by Rich Schwartzman February 14, 2012

I recall watching the TV news the evening that Germans were taking sledgehammers to the Berlin Wall. They were smashing it into little souvenirs, reminders of a world split in two for decades. I allowed myself to feel happy for a people who had never known any type of freedom, anything of life that was not under authoritarian rule. ... [click for more]

The Catholic Bishops and the Morality of Government Mandates

by Tim Kelly February 13, 2012

The Catholic bishops are absolutely correct in their criticism of the Obama administration’s decision to require all employers, including all religious institutions, to provide health insurance that makes contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortion-inducing drugs available to their employees. The mandate is both unconstitutional and morally objectionable. The Obama administration appears to be making the political calculation that the controversy will subside ... [click for more]

Bushs Torture Program Began Ten Years Ago

by Andy Worthington February 13, 2012

Last month was the 10th anniversary of the opening of the “war on terror” prison at Guantánamo, and as this year progresses it is appropriate to remember that there will be other grim 10-year anniversaries to note. This week, one of those 10-year anniversaries passed almost unnoticed. On February 7, 2002, as Andrew Cohen noted in the Atlantic, in the ... [click for more]