Freedom Daily Archive

A Prudent Foreign Policy

by Doug Bandow August 1, 2009

Smart Power: Toward a Prudent Foreign Policy for America by Ted Galen Carpenter (Cato Institute, 2008); 352 pages. Change has come to Washington in the form of a new administration. Yet the cast of characters looks much the same. Their philosophies, while differing in degree, remain solidly interventionist. The question ...

Gold and Freedom, Part 4

by Jacob G. Hornberger July 1, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 On April 5, 1933 — about a month after taking office — President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order commanding every American to turn in his gold to the federal government. The order was soon ratified by Congress, which made it a felony offense for Americans ...

Still Meddling After All These Years

by Sheldon Richman July 1, 2009

American presidents have long regarded Latin America as their “backyard.” The Monroe Doctrine warned the European powers to stay out — by what right? — and since then American chief executives have deemed it entirely proper to intervene when things did not go as they liked. Mexico, Nicaragua, Guatemala, the ...

The Early History of a Worldwide Nuisance

by James Bovard July 1, 2009

Few federal agencies have as much bipartisan support as the National Endowment for Democracy. Created in 1983, NED’s stated mission is to “strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts.” In actuality, NED allows U.S. politicians to meddle in foreign elections at the same time they pretend ...

Economics and the Drug War

by Bart Frazier July 1, 2009

It is becoming ever more apparent that the war on drugs has been lost. Doomed to fail from the moment of its inception, the war the U.S. government has been waging has not been against drugs, but against people and the laws of economics. The results have been violence, corruption, and a militarized society.

The Price of Freedom?

by Christine Smith July 1, 2009

What is it to be born free and not to live free? — Henry David Thoreau, “Life Without Principle” “Freedom is not free” is a common phrase found in songs, in speeches, and on ribbons, and it’s the inscription ...

Economic Stimulus Nonsense

by Scott McPherson July 1, 2009

When times are great — maybe especially when times are great — most people don’t think about economics. At least, if there’s any thinking going on at all, it’s not exactly clear-headed thinking. But when times take a turn for the worse, people forget about making any kind of sense at all. It would be far better if they ...

The Horror of Gun Control in Mumbai

by Benedict D. LaRosa July 1, 2009

As Ronald Reagan would say, “Here we go again!” How many Rwanda, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Warsaw Ghetto, post-office, and other shootings do people have to endure before they face reality? How long does it take to learn a simple lesson: unarmed people are more vulnerable to terrorists, criminals, and crazed ...

Robbery and the Welfare State

by George Leef July 1, 2009

Stealing from Each Other: How the Welfare State Robs Americans of Money and Spirit by Edgar K. Browning (Praeger, 2008); 226 pages. In the Sherlock Holmes story “Silver Blaze,” the key to Holmes’s solution of the case rested on something that didn’t happen — the dog that didn’t bark in ...

Gold and Freedom, Part 3

by Jacob G. Hornberger June 1, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt were the two presidents most responsible for the abandonment of sound money in the United States. These two U.S. presidents opened the floodgates to the monetary debauchery under which today’s Americans have suffered for their entire lives. In waging war to prevent ...

Blame Republicans for Big Government

by Sheldon Richman June 1, 2009

Government power is growing, and unless President Barack Obama and the majority in Congress have a libertarian epiphany, it will continue to grow for years. Obama’s 2010 budget will come in at more than $3.4 trillion, with a deficit of well over $1 trillion. Though the deficit will decline — if the administration’s dubious projections ...

The Post–9/11 Roundup of Innocents, Part 2

by James Bovard June 1, 2009

Part 1 | Part 2 In the weeks after the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration constantly misrepresented how much power it was seeking over aliens. In a September 25 speech to FBI agents, Bush declared, “We’re asking Congress for the authority to hold suspected terrorists who are in the process of being deported until they’re deported.... We believe it’s ...