Civil Liberties & Privacy

Financial Privacy: R.I.P.

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 1998

Okay, this is going too far. According to the Federal Register of December 7, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) wants a new way to snoop on us. It proposes a mandatory program for insured nonmember banks called "Know Your Customer." This is not some friendly way for banks to serve ...

Clinton Tests Our Devotion to Liberty

by Sheldon Richman July 1, 1998

President Clinton is up to something that will surely put the American people's love of liberty to the test. He wants to assign every citizen a "unique health identifier," an identification number that would permit the government to gather information about our health and compile it into a national database. No one noticed when ...

The Fires of Waco Are Still Burning

by James Bovard March 1, 1998

Waco: The Rules of Engagement, a new film now available on video cassette, and recently nominated for an Academy Award for best documentary, is one of the most educational films ever made. Many Americans were transfixed by the images of the FBI tanks in April 1993 smashing into a building occupied by scores of women and children — ...

Compromise and Concealment-The Road to Defeat, Part 6

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 1, 1998

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 Libertarianism is one of the grandest movements in history. And every single libertarian should feel proud to be a part of it. We follow in the tradition of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, David Crockett, Jim Bowie, ...

Compromise and Concealment-The Road to Defeat, Part 5

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 1998

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 Some libertarians suggest that it is incorrect strategy for libertarians, both in the ideological and political arenas, to maintain the consistency and purity of libertarian principles. They recommend that libertarians "reach out" to mainstream America by watering down ...

Compromise and Concealment-The Road to Defeat, Part 4

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 1997

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 Libertarians believe that individuals should be free to engage in any peaceful activity without governmental permission or interference. It is one of the duties of government, libertarians hold, to protect, not regulate or obstruct, peaceful activities. Thus, libertarians ...

California’s Blow Against Property Rights

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 1997

California likes its reputation as the trend-setter of the nation, but let's hope it won't be true this time. On New Year's Day, it will become the first state where smoking is forbidden in bars. Most people don't smoke, so they may be pleased with this news. But that would be short-sighted, ...

Compromise and Concealment–The Road to Defeat, Part 3

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 1997

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 Libertarian candidates for public office often say, "A no-compromise approach may be fine for a think tank, but it has no place in a political campaign. We have to be practical. We can't turn voters into libertarians overnight. ...

Ruining People’s Lives for Fun and Profit

by James Bovard November 1, 1997

In recent years, entrapment schemes have exploded as government agencies seek to distract attention from their failure to protect citizens from real criminals and to maximize their power to intimidate the citizenry. Entrapment is "the act of officers or agents of the government in inducing a person to commit ...

Should Hate Be a Crime?

by Sheldon Richman November 1, 1997

Some policymakers in Washington want to make it easier for the federal government to prosecute people for what's in their minds. Among those who support that idea are President Clinton and Senators Edward Kennedy and Arlen Specter. The foolishness, as you can see, is bipartisan. Kennedy and Specter are cosponsors ...

Compromise and Concealment-The Road to Defeat, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 1, 1997

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 The libertarian philosophy holds that people should be free to do whatever they want, so long as their conduct is peaceful. Therefore, government's role in life should be limited to: (1) punishing people who initiate force against others ...

Compromise and Concealment-The Road to Defeat, Part 1

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 1997

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 Twenty years ago, I was rummaging through the public library in my hometown of Laredo, Texas, and I came across four books entitled Essays on Liberty that had been published many years before by The Foundation for Economic ...