Politics

Washington Gibberish

by Sheldon Richman January 1, 1996

If English is ever declared the official language of the United States, the biggest upheaval will be in Washington, D.C. That's because they don't speak English in Washington. They speak gibberish. You may not realize that, because gibberish has the same-sounding words and grammatical structure as English. When you hear gibberish, you think you're hearing English. But you're not. ...

Loving Your Country and Hating Your Government

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 1, 1995

Several months ago, President Clinton condemned Americans who exposed and criticized wrongdoing by the U.S. government. The president said: "There's nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country." Let us examine the implications of the president's claim. In the 1930s and throughout World War II, ...

Tiger in the Land

by Robert LeFevre October 1, 1995

There is an apparent wide and shocking misconception in our land. It is this. That patriotism consists in loving our government and in willingly and joyously doing what the president and his administration want us to do. It is this misconception, so cunningly advanced by unscrupulous men in power, which has paved the way for despotic advances in all ...

Patriotism Has Changed

by John L. Egolf Jr. October 1, 1995

Observing the festivities and media coverage of the July 4 celebrations, I wondered if Americans know what is being celebrated. The ideas and ideals that are expressed in the Declaration of Independence are far from most Americans' minds. Further, the idea of patriotism in 1776 was much different than present-day conceptions. The national government and various state governments are horrible ...

Individualism and the Free Society, Part 1

by Nathaniel Branden November 1, 1994

Part 1 | Part 2 A political system is the expression of a code of ethics. Just as some form of statism or collectivism is the expression of the ethics of altruism, so individualism — as represented by laissez-faire capitalism — is the expression of the ethics of rational self-interest. In this chapter I propose to show why this is ...

Social Conflict, Self-Determination, and the Boundaries of the State

by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 1994

For the advocate of classical or market liberalism, the depoliticization of economic life is considered the primary avenue for the diminishment of social and cultural tensions in society. The removal of the state from all involvement in market activities, other than as protector of life and property and legal ...

Political Evils and Utopian Seductions

by Richard M. Ebeling August 1, 1994

Without question, one of the most moving and disturbing movies of the last several years has been Steven Spielberg's film, Schindler's List. Wrapped in a fascinating story about one German businessman's successful attempt to save 1,100 Jews from the Nazi extermination machine is a visual style that captures more clearly the cold ...

New Element Discovered

by Anonymous April 1, 1994

The heaviest element known to science was recently discovered by university physicists. The element, tentatively named "Bureaucrastratium," has no protons or electrons and thus has an atomic weight of zero. However, it does have one neutron, 70 assistant neutrons, and 161 sub-assistant neutrons. This gives it an atomic mass of 232. These 232 particles are held together in a ...

Clinton’s Health-Care Plan for You: Cradle-to-Grave Slavery, Part 2

by Jarret B. Wollstein February 1, 1994

Part 1 | Part 2 Under President Clinton's health-care plan, every person in America will be registered by the federal government and issued a red, white and blue "Health Security Card." This includes independent contractors, the self-employed, the homeless, and illegal immigrants who have regular jobs. Babies will be registered at birth. As The Clinton Blueprint: The President's Health Security ...

The Case against Medical Licensing

by Lawrence D. Wilson January 1, 1994

For the first 120 years of our history, America had, essentially, a free-market health-care system. There were few licensing laws or other barriers to entry into the healing arts. A variety of practitioners offered services, including herbalists, nature-care therapists, hydrotherapists, osteopaths, allopaths and homeopaths. There was a variety of healing schools and clinics. During this time, America was among ...

Living the Life of a Lie, Part 3

by Richard M. Ebeling July 1, 1993

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 The greatest myth that has emerged out of the end of the Cold War is that a philosophy of freedom has triumphed over an ideology of totalitarianism. The post-World War II period was, in fact, merely a conflict between differing forms of the statist ideal. On both sides of the ...

Living the Life of the Lie, Part 2

by Richard M. Ebeling June 1, 1993

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 In 1949, John T. Flynn published a book entitled The Road Ahead: America's Creeping Revolution. In it he explained that "modern socialism means the assumption by the State of the responsibility and authority for the control of the entire economic system. This does not mean," Flynn pointed out, "that the ...