Free Society

Society Is Not a Family, Government Is Not a Parent

by Richard M. Ebeling July 17, 2017

Few things are as clear as the bankruptcy of the political “left.” Ranting and raving about Donald Trump and “anti-democratic” trends in the United States and other parts of the world, their own vision and vista for a “progressive” and “renewed” America is nothing but the same old statist and collectivist songs they have been singing for more than ...

Imagine a Boot Stamping on Your Face

by John W. Whitehead July 7, 2017

The Internet is watching us now. If they want to. They can see what sites you visit. In the future, television will be watching us, and customizing itself to what it knows about us. The thrilling thing is, that will make us feel we’re part of the medium. The scary thing is, we’ll lose ...

Discrimination Hypocrisy

by Laurence M. Vance June 15, 2017

Soon after Donald Trump won the presidential election in November, it was widely reported that a number of prominent fashion designers were refusing to work with his wife, Melania Trump, because they do not approve of her husband’s politics. In a word, they were practicing discrimination. Designer Sophie Theallet, who dressed First Lady Michelle Obama, posted an ...

Stop Fighting One Another and Focus on the Real Enemy

by John W. Whitehead May 31, 2017

“Count me out if it’s for violence. Don’t expect me at barricades unless it is with flowers.... What’s the point of bombing Wall Street? If you want to change the system, it’s no good shooting people.”—John Lennon The more things change, the more they stay the same. America is still wrestling with many of the same problems today—endless wars, civil unrest, ...

Separating Charity and Health Care from the State

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 1, 2017

One of the most remarkable achievements of our American ancestors was enshrined in the First Amendment — the separation of church and state. Reflecting the notion that religious liberty was one of the natural, God-given rights to which Thomas Jefferson had referred in the Declaration of Independence, the First Amendment expressly prohibited Congress (and implicitly the entire federal government) ...

The Iron Jaws of the Police State

by John W. Whitehead April 27, 2017

“Policing is broken... It has evolved as a paramilitary, bureaucratic, organizational arrangement that distances police officers from the communities they’ve been sworn to protect and serve. When we have shooting after shooting after shooting that most people would define as at least questionable, it’s time to look, not just at a few bad apples, but the barrel. And ...

Run for Your Life

by John W. Whitehead April 19, 2017

We’ve reached the point where state actors can penetrate rectums and vaginas, where judges can order forced catheterizations, and where police and medical personnel can perform scans, enemas and colonoscopies without the suspect’s consent. And these procedures aren’t to nab kingpins or cartels, but people who at worst are hiding an amount of drugs that can fit into a ...

When Government Evil Triumphs, Freedom Falls

by John W. Whitehead April 5, 2017

“Government is said to be a necessary evil. The saying appears to be without merit. For can anything be at once necessary and evil? True, all governments have had a history of evil-doing, more or less. However, it does not follow from this experience that their good is indistinguishable from their evil. Governments—assuming a proper limitation of their activities—are ...

Stealing from the Citizenry

by John W. Whitehead March 21, 2017

“Civil forfeiture laws represent one of the most serious assaults on private property rights in the nation today. Under civil forfeiture, police and prosecutors can seize your car or other property, sell it and use the proceeds to fund agency budgets—all without so much as charging you with a crime. Unlike criminal forfeiture, where property is taken ...

The Government Is Still the Enemy of Freedom

by John W. Whitehead March 9, 2017

Rights aren’t rights if someone can take them away. They’re privileges. That’s all we’ve ever had in this country, is a bill of temporary privileges. And if you read the news even badly, you know that every year the list gets shorter and shorter. Sooner or later, the people in this country are gonna realize the government … doesn’t ...

Muhammad Ali and America’s Slave Society

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 27, 2017

In an era in which vilification of Islam and Muslims has become a popular activity for many, it was ironic and somewhat humorous to see nearly everyone in American celebrating the life of Muhammad Ali, who was undoubtedly the most famous American Muslim in U.S. history. As most people know, it wasn’t always like that. When Ali refused to comply ...

The Libertarian Angle: The Meaning of Freedom

by Future of Freedom Foundation February 16, 2017

FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling talk about what it means to be free, what it means to live in a free society. Go to the podcast.