Separate Economy and the State by Jacob G. Hornberger October 31, 2014 For centuries, governments established, controlled, regulated, and subsidized religious activity. Then some people began asking a revolutionary question: Why not separate religious activity and the state in such a way that the state would be barred from involving itself in any religious activity whatsoever? The question shook the world. Having been born and raised under systems in which the government ...
A Lesson from 19th-Century Americans by Jacob G. Hornberger October 30, 2014 Ever since I founded The Future of Freedom Foundation 25 years ago, people have periodically said to me things like: “Jacob, FFF’s uncompromising approach to libertarianism sounds good but it just isn’t practical. Ideals are fine but since they are impossible to achieve, it’s a waste of time to be advocating them. Better to spend your time advocating what ...
Partnering with Communists and Nazis by Jacob G. Hornberger October 29, 2014 The depths of moral depravity into which the U.S. national-security establishment has plunged our nation were disclosed in the New York Times this week. In an excerpt from a book that was released yesterday titled “The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler’s Men,” author Eric Lichtblau revealed that the FBI and the ...
My Talk on Immigration at Northwood University by Jacob G. Hornberger October 28, 2014 Last night I had the good fortune of sharing libertarian perspectives with students at Northwood University, one of the few colleges in the country where students receive a great education into free-market principles. My talk, which was delivered live on the Internet, was part of Northwood’s “Freedom Week,” which brought together both students and the general public to hear ...
Just Another Immigration Horror Story by Jacob G. Hornberger October 27, 2014 Since I grew up on the Texas-Mexico border, I have long become accustomed to heartrending stories involving the U.S. government’s decades-long war against illegal immigrants, but for some reason a front-page story in yesterday’s New York Times hit me really hard. I don’t see how anyone could read the article and still endorse immigration controls. The story details the ...
WMD Blowback in Iraq by Jacob G. Hornberger October 24, 2014 According to a New York Times article today, the Islamic State has employed WMDs against Iraqi police officers. The specific WMD used is chlorine gas. According to reports, ISIS forces set off an explosion that released the gas, causing injuries to 11 Iraqi police officers. Alistair Baskey, a spokesman for the National Security Council, observed: The use of chlorine as ...
Democracy Is Neither Freedom Nor Prosperity by Jacob G. Hornberger October 23, 2014 Consider this excerpt from a New York Times article on the recent success that Tunisia has had in adopting a democratic system: Many young Tunisians say that the new freedoms and elections have done little to improve the daily life, create jobs, or rein in a brutal police force that many here still refer to as “the ruler,” or, ...
My Talk to the YAL Chapter at Washburn University by Jacob G. Hornberger October 22, 2014 Yesterday I had the opportunity to deliver a talk via the Internet on the American police state to the Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) chapter at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. I always loving giving talks to YAL members because the audience is always filled with young people who are knowledgeable about libertarianism and Austrian economics and, equally important, ...
Hey, Newark! Time to Separate School & State! by Jacob G. Hornberger October 21, 2014 A fascinating insight into the statist mind, specifically in the context of public schooling, came in the form of an op-ed by Ras J. Baraka, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Baraka’s op-ed, entitled “A New Start for Newark Schools,” was published in last Sunday’s edition of the New York Times. Baraka beseeched the state of New Jersey ...
The Cuban Embargo Is an Attack on both Cubans and Americans by Jacob G. Hornberger October 20, 2014 In its October 11 Sunday edition, the New York Times published an editorial calling for the lifting of the 45-year-old Cold War-era economic embargo against Cuba. The Times pointed out, Over the decades, it became clear to many American policy makers that the embargo was an utter failure. But any proposal to end the embargo angered Cuban-American voters, a ...
Mandated Charity Is Evil, Immoral, and Destructive by Jacob G. Hornberger October 17, 2014 For the life of me, I just can’t understand why conservatives and liberals (i.e., progressives) favor mandated charity. With the exception of foreign interventionism, public schooling, and the drug war, it is difficult to conceive of anything more immoral and destructive than coerced charity. At local grocery stores here in Virginia, the cashier sometimes asks customers, “Would you like to ...
China’s Suppression of Dissent Is Reason for Hope by Jacob G. Hornberger October 16, 2014 For the past several weeks, the Chinese government has been brutally suppressing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. The protesters consist mostly of students, who are objecting to the Chinese government’s regulation requiring candidates for public office to be pre-approved by the Chinese government. Ever since Great Britain’s transfer of jurisdiction over Hong Kong to China, the Chinese government has slowly ...
