Do We Still Need the Bill of Rights? by Jacob G. Hornberger August 1, 2008 There are two important points to remember about the Bill of Rights. First, the Bill of Rights does not give any rights to the American people and, second, the Bill of Rights was intended to protect us from our own federal government. Those two points often shock ordinary Americans. Throughout their schooling, ...
How Can You Love a Country? by Sheldon Richman August 1, 2008 Why do people get upset when Barack Obama refuses to wear an American-flag lapel pin or Michelle Obama suggests that she hadn’t been proud of her country until recently? The Right, led by its talk-radio spokesmen, makes the biggest fuss about these things, but other people appeared bothered as well, and it may account for ...
Do Presidents Have the Right to Kill? by James Bovard August 1, 2008 Should the president of the United States be exempt from both American and international law? Few people would instinctively say yes. But, in actual practice, presidents of the United States have been legally untouchable for most of the past century for the foreign killings they ordered. Even when their orders resulted in the killing of vast numbers of innocent people, ...
Reaching Out to the Left, Part 2: The Issues by Anthony Gregory August 1, 2008 Part 1 | Part 2 Communicating libertarian ideals to the Left can be a challenge, but it can also help bolster our own understanding of our principles. Often, libertarians try to appeal to the Left by emphasizing our areas of agreement, which are conventionally seen as mostly including personal liberties and war. But even when ...
Socialism and Medicine, Part 4 by William L. Anderson August 1, 2008 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 Obviously, the first fundamental of a free-market system in medical and health care would be the absence of coercion. This precept extends far beyond the question of whether or not people should be forced to purchase government “health insurance.” Indeed, the idea of free markets should ...
On the Limits of Government, Part 2 by Scott McPherson August 1, 2008 Part 1 | Part 2 In 1776 the Continental Congress submitted to a “candid World” the “self-evident” truths that “all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness....” Government, the Declaration of Independence proclaimed, is merely the means to a noble end. ...
Global Warming, Central Planning, and the Free Market by Bart Frazier August 1, 2008 Global warming is a topic that can turn any gathering of friends into a shouting match quickly, and with good reason. If the direst predictions are true, our civilization is in for a rough ride down the road. But unfortunately, the debate over global warming has been framed in such a way that one of ...
Borders, Socialism, and the Free Market by Jacob G. Hornberger July 1, 2008 There are two important things to keep in mind with respect to the immigration crisis: first, the crisis is rooted in socialism and interventionism and, second, the only solution to the immigration crisis lies in open borders and free markets. Any attempt to resolve the crisis by resorting to more socialism and more interventionism only pushes the United States ...
Just What We Need: New Reasons to Go to War by Sheldon Richman July 1, 2008 A few days before Gen. David Petraeus confirmed for Congress how overworked the military is in Iraq, President Bush was in Croatia talking about the significance of inviting that country and Albania to join NATO. “Henceforth, should any danger threaten your people, America and the NATO alliance will stand with you, and no one will be able to take your ...
The Forgotten Iraqi-Sovereignty Sham by James Bovard July 1, 2008 The Bush administration and the Iraqi government are wrangling over the future role of the U.S. government in Iraq. The Bush team wants far more power over Iraqis than the current Iraqi government wants to concede. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said in April 2008 that the dispute is concentrated on “sensitive issues,” including the U.S. military’s right to imprison ...
Reaching Out to the Left, Part 1: The Basics by Anthony Gregory July 1, 2008 Part 1 | Part 2 Should libertarians reach out to the Left? Why might it be important? And what approach should we take in doing it? As libertarians, we have a goal of a freer world. Despite what some might think, the degree of human freedom in a society is not ...
Socialism and Medicine, Part 3 by William L. Anderson July 1, 2008 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 Economic historian Robert Higgs has written that people often will hand personal responsibility to the state either when they are fearful that something will happen to them or when they have a fear of losing something. Moreover, governments are able to harness the destructive power of ...