Freedom Daily Archive

Henry David Thoreau and “Civil Disobedience,” Part 1

by Wendy McElroy March 1, 2005

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) was an introspective man who wandered the woods surrounding the small village of Concord, Massachusetts, recording the daily growth of plants and the migration of birds in his ever-present journal. How, then, did he profoundly influence such political giants as Mohandas Gandhi, Leo Tolstoy, and Martin ...

Some Civics Lessons for My Son

by Don Boudreaux March 1, 2005

My son, Thomas Macaulay Boudreaux, is seven years old. He’s the most precious creature in the world to me. My wife, Karol, and I will never indoctrinate him, but we do and we will teach him as best we can. Here’s a list of some of the lessons that he’ll get from me as he grows into manhood. Even in ...

Economics for the Citizen, Part 1

by Walter E. Williams March 1, 2005

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 Last fall semester, I didn’t teach for the first time in 37 years. No, I haven’t retired. It was my semester-off reward ...

Are Illegal Immigrants Criminals? Not!

by Ken Schoolland March 1, 2005

I hear it from some of the nicest people one would ever meet. Some dear friends of mine, whom I respect very much, say that all illegal immigrants are criminals because they broke the laws that control who may come into this country. And since these immigrants are criminals, we don’t want that kind of person here. Such accusations confuse ...

The Bill of Rights: The Rights of the Accused

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 1, 2005

Among the legitimate purposes of government is the punishment of those who violate the rights of others through the commission of violent or forceful acts, such as murder, rape, robbery, theft, burglary, or trespass. As the Framers understood, however, the matter does not end there because an important inquiry immediately arises: How do we ensure that people are not ...

Bureaucracy: A Mises Classic, Part 2

by Sheldon Richman February 1, 2005

Part 1 | Part 2 Last month I discussed Ludwig von Mises’s presentation of profit management in his great little book Bureaucracy. He explains in detail how consumers “use” the price and profit-and-loss systems to direct entrepreneurs toward producing the things they want most urgently. (Of course, they don’t self-consciously use these systems; they simply buy and abstain ...

Bush Profiteering from Housing Defaults

by James Bovard February 1, 2005

President Bush is determined to end the prejudice against people who want to buy a home but don’t have any money. Since he became president the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has spent more than $120 billion. HUD public-housing projects continue to devastate poor neighborhoods. HUD largesse to local governments continues to finance the confiscation and demolition ...

The Greatest Safeguard Against Tyranny

by Scott McPherson February 1, 2005

One is misled not by what he does not know but by what he believes he knows. — Jean Jacques Rousseau, On Education The purpose of government is the protection of individual rights. Government officials are elected and appointed to ensure that the citizenry are safe from military invasion, as well as from the ...

Gun Control and the War on Drugs

by Anthony Gregory February 1, 2005

Many opponents of gun control support the war on drugs, and many critics and reformers of America's drug laws tend to believe in gun control. Conservatives tend to fall into the first category and liberals into the second. In reality, these two issues are more similar than many people might think. In both cases -- laws that restrict which guns people ...

A Letter to My Friend Who Supports the Drug War

by James Muhm February 1, 2005

My friend, we’ve been discussing this war on drugs for quite a while, and whether or not it is doing anything to reduce drug use. We both agree that most drugs, particularly “hard” drugs, have a harmful and debilitating effect on most persons who use them. And yet, is the metaphorical war on drugs doing what it is supposed ...

How the Enemy Combatant Label Is Being Used, Part 2

by Jesslyn Radack February 1, 2005

Part 1 | Part 2 On Monday, October 4, the Supreme Court declined to consider a petition filed by Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri. Al-Marri is perhaps the least well known of the three persons who have been held in the United States as enemy combatants. The decision was unsurprising yet still disappointing. Al-Marri, who has been waiting for nearly three ...

Book Review: The Bush Betrayal

by Brigid ONeill February 1, 2005

The Bush Betrayal by James Bovard (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004); 336 pages; $26.95. The reelection of George Walker Bush rubs too much like the gruesome aftermath of a hit and run — made bearable only by our instinctual ability to self-medicate in numbness. For a first-stage coping mechanism — just ask the Sopranos psychiatrist — it ...