Free Society

Habits of the Heart and Character of Mind

by Richard M. Ebeling October 1, 2019

In American election cycles all of the possible candidates for government office of both major political parties assure those who may vote for them in primaries and the general election that they are voices for the real or true “American values.” Voting for them is voting for what America has been, is, or should be all about. But what ...

Discrimination and Liberty

by Christine Smith October 1, 2019

Wise individuals discriminate all the time. Think about it. In today’s society, “discrimination” has become a trigger word used to vilify anyone who chooses not to associate with another because of a difference he rejects. As such, liberty is being trampled as freedom of speech, association, and even thought become prohibited. But “discrimination” is not a bad word. It is a ...

The Bill of Rights Turns 230, and What Do We Have to Show for It? Nothing Good

by John W. Whitehead September 11, 2019

“That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn't even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn't even an enemy you could put your finger on.”—Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale It’s been 230 years since James Madison drafted the Bill of Rights—the first ...

Friends of Freedom, Do Not Despair

by Richard M. Ebeling September 5, 2019

Friends of freedom can easily become despondent when they look at what appear to be the ideological and political trends that fill the media day in and day out. Government spending keeps growing, national debts pile up, and regulations and redistributions seem to be narrowing the arenas of market and personal freedoms of choice. Anti-liberal demagogues abound, seemingly everywhere. ...

America’s Lost Liberties, Post-9/11

by John W. Whitehead September 4, 2019

“These are the times that try men’s souls.” ― Thomas Paine, The American Crisis Take heed, America. Our losses are mounting with every passing day. What began with the post-9/11 passage of the USA Patriot Act  has snowballed into the eradication of every vital safeguard against government overreach, corruption and abuse. The citizenry’s unquestioning acquiescence to anything the government wants ...

The Sham of Government Transparency

by James Bovard September 1, 2019

The Supreme Court in June ruled that the federal government can keep secret the food-stamp sales totals of grocery stores. By a 6 to 3 vote, the Court declared that such business records are exempt from disclosure under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This case, started eight years ago by the Argus Leader, a South Dakotan newspaper, ...

The American Gulag

by John W. Whitehead August 29, 2019

“The exile of prisoners to a distant place, where they can ‘pay their debt to society,’ make themselves useful, and not contaminate others with their ideas or their criminal acts, is a practice as old as civilization itself. The rulers of ancient Rome and Greece sent their dissidents off to distant colonies. Socrates chose death ...

American Apocalypse

by John W. Whitehead August 23, 2019

“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out ... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” — H. L. Mencken The U.S. government is working hard to destabilize the nation. No, this is not ...

George S. Schuyler, Anti-Racist Champion of Liberty

by Richard M. Ebeling August 20, 2019

One of the most difficult subjects to discuss in America today is race. It is the proverbial “third rail,” which, if talked about outside of the politically correct corridor of “identity politics,” is almost instant death. If you are “white,” anything you say not consistent with the paradigm of identity politics is condemned as explicit or hidden racist attitudes, beliefs, ...

Indoor Vaping, Like Smoking, Now Up In Smoke

by Christine Smith August 12, 2019

Colorado, as with many other states and various municipalities nationwide, has added more regulation to prohibit vaping. This one is an update (signed by the governor May 29, 2019) to amend the Clean Indoor Air Act we've had here since 2006. The Colorado ban now makes vaping illegal in all places smoking is currently banned, essentially most indoor work or ...

We’re All Enemies of the State

by John W. Whitehead August 8, 2019

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”—H.L. Mencken We’ve been down this road many times before. If the government is consistent about any one thing, it is this: it has an unnerving tendency to exploit crises and use ...

Fat Chance

by Laurence M. Vance August 5, 2019

Should employers have the right to discriminate in hiring on the basis of obesity? The Washington State Supreme Court recently ruled that “it is illegal for employers in Washington to refuse to hire qualified potential employees because the employer perceives them to be obese.” That follows guidelines released by the New York City Commission on Human Rights stating that discrimination ...