Freedom Daily Archive

Harebrained Pot and Wheat Decisions

by James Bovard October 1, 2005

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court, acting again like a gang that smoked too much bad weed, ruled that the federal government has the right to prohibit people from growing marijuana for medicinal purposes. The Court relied on an interpretation of the Constitution’s Commerce Clause that basically gave the feds unlimited control over any activity that Congress or federal ...

Lysander Spooner, Part 1

by Wendy McElroy October 1, 2005

Part 1 | Part 2 The 19th-century individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker called Lysander Spooner “our Nestor,” a Greek name denoting “wisdom.” The 20th-century libertarian Murray Rothbard referred to Spooner as “the last of the great natural rights theorists ... the last of the Old Guard believers in natural rights.” Natural-rights or natural-law theory, as espoused by Spooner, is ...

Wal-Mart’s Not Coming to Town

by Gregory Bresiger October 1, 2005

Wal-Mart is not coming to my neighborhood. That’s because the powers that be of New York City recently said that Wal-Mart wasn’t wanted here. In fact, given the comments of our political and labor leaders, one would think Wal-Mart was a kind of disease. What are Wal-Mart’s sins? It has ...

Economics for the Citizen, Part 8

by Walter E. Williams October 1, 2005

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 Economic theory is broadly applicable. However, a society’s property-rights structure influences how the theory will manifest itself. It’s the same with the ...

Waging War on Carcinogens

by Rosalind Lacy MacLennan October 1, 2005

America’s War on “Carcinogens”: Reassessing the Use of Animal Tests to Predict Human Cancer Risk by the American Council on Science and Health (March 2005); $15.95. America’s War on “Carcinogens”: Reassessing the Use of Animal Tests to Predict Human Cancer Risk calls for medical researchers, journalists, and lawmakers to refocus and change the rules of engagement in the war ...

A Methodology for Hope

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2005

A major adverse consequence of the 9/11 attacks has been a feeling of resignation that has come over some advocates of liberty. The feeling is that, given 9/11 and the “war on terrorism,” the omnipotent state is here to stay for the indefinite future. As difficult as it was to restore libertarian principles to our country in the pre–9/11 ...

The Supreme Court Repeals the Constitution

by Sheldon Richman September 1, 2005

An unidentified New York Surrogate Court judge famously said in 1866, “No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court we now know (if we needed reminding) that life, liberty, and property are in peril even when the legislature is not ...

A Forgotten Post–9/11 Hoax

by James Bovard September 1, 2005

In the wake of the hijacking and crashing of four airliners and the subsequent shutdown of the nation’s airports on 9/11, many Americans were hesitant to return to fly the friendly skies. Speaking on September 27, 2001, at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, President Bush decried the “atmosphere of fear” created by the terrorist attack. He ...

The New Deal and the Courts, Part 4

by William L. Anderson September 1, 2005

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 No matter who is appointed to replace retiring members of the Supreme Court, the larger issues will remain unchanged, as they have been for nearly seven decades — the New Deal Supreme Court has become a permanent fixture in our country. Changes brought about by Franklin Roosevelt’s ...

Changing the Education Paradigm

by Scott McPherson September 1, 2005

America doesn’t have a Department of Sustenance. Why not? Eating is one of the most important things we do. Without food, human beings die. Still, we’re content to allow individual citizens and families to choose for themselves how best to fill their tummies. Yet, when it comes to the less — though nonetheless very — important job of education, we’ve ...

Economics for the Citizen, Part 7

by Walter E. Williams September 1, 2005

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 There’s a reggae song that advises, “If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty ...

Book Review: Reclaiming the American Revolution

by George Leef September 1, 2005

Reclaiming the American Revolution: The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions and Their Legacy by William J. Watkins Jr. (Independent Institute, 2004); 236 pages; $39.95. How do you devise a system of limited government that actually works? It is easy enough to put words ...