Politics

A Practical Way to Advance Freedom

by Jacob G. Hornberger June 1, 1993

Ideas matter. They have consequences. Thus, essays on liberty are vitally important in moving us toward our goal of achieving liberty. However, is there a practical way to advance liberty? Is there a method by which people in their respective communities can move our nation toward freedom? Yes. A practical way to advance liberty at ...

Living a Life of the Lie, Part 1

by Richard M. Ebeling May 1, 1993

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 In 1979, the Czech playwright and dissident Vaclav Havel illegally published his famous essay, "The Power of the Powerless." He analyzed the nature of the totalitarian system and the role of the individual in it, both as victim and supporter. That the Marxian and socialist promises and prophesies were unfilled ...

Highway to Collapse: Spending on Infrastructure

by Jacob G. Hornberger April 1, 1993

Bill Clinton believes that spending on infrastructure will bring jobs and prosperity to America — and, in the process, finally prove, after sixty years of failure, that the welfare-state, managed-economy way of life can be a success after all. But spending on infrastructure is just another highway to collapse. It will only result in higher taxes, more impoverishment, and ...

The Importance of Tools

by Karl Hess April 1, 1993

It is the pompous delusion of politicians that they significantly improve the way the world works. Nonsense. Through taxation, rules, regulations, and war, politicians historically have destroyed people's lives and obstructed their economic progress. The real work of the world — the way we live our daily lives — ...

Electing Our Daddy

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 1992

For 125 years, the American people elected a president. During that time, the powers of the president were extremely limited. The American people did not permit the passage, for example, of income taxation, drug laws, and welfare laws. They also refused to permit a large standing military force. And they did not allow their government to engage in foreign ...

Political Correctness and the Closed Society

by Richard M. Ebeling June 1, 1992

In February 1992, the Center for Constructive Alternatives of Hillsdale College in Michigan organized a five-day conference on "Thought Police on Campus: Is Academic Freedom in Danger?" Among the speakers invited to participate as opponents of political correctness in academia were Charles Sykes (author of Profscam and The Hollow Men,) Shelby Steele (author of The Content ...

If Liberty Mattered … A Presidential Candidate’s Press Conference

by Richard M. Ebeling April 1, 1992

Election years are meant to be momentous events in the life of a nation. The electorate are given the opportunity to determine the political course of the country. And every four years, the electoral process includes the election of the president has come to symbolize the mood of the country — a statement by the people on the political ...

Nationalism and Classical Liberalism

by Richard M. Ebeling March 1, 1992

For forty-five years, Europe enjoyed peace. But it was in the form of an "armed truce" called the Cold War. On the one side of the Iron Curtain, the Soviet Union maintained its through the threat — and occasional use — of force, as in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. On the other side of the lron ...

The Consequences of World War II

by Sheldon Richman November 1, 1991

World War II is often viewed as the last good war. In contrast to the wars that followed it — Korea and Vietnam, primarily World War II is said to have had a clear purpose: the smashing of Nazism and fascism and all the horrible things for which they stood. The description "last good war" also implies that the ...

From the New Mercantilism to Economic Fascism

by Richard M. Ebeling August 1, 1991

February 1991 saw the release of the latest annual Economic Report of The President. Prepared by the President's Council of Economic Advisors, the report is meant to provide a detailed summary of where the American economy has been during the past twelve months and to offer various projections as to where the economy is heading for the next twelve ...

Producer Interest vs. The Public Interest: The Origin of Democratized Privilege

by Richard M. Ebeling March 1, 1991

In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith constructed some of the most devastating arguments against the then-prevailing system of economic policy — mercantilism. In practically every country in Europe, governments regulated, controlled and planned the economic activities of their subjects. In France, the regulations were so detailed that they specified how many stitches should be used in ...

The Heritage of Economic Liberty

by Richard M. Ebeling July 1, 1990

For the Founding Fathers, economic liberty was inseparable from the case for political freedom. Many of the grievances enumerated in the Declaration of Independence concern British infringements on the free movement of goods and men between the thirteen colonies and the rest of the world. It was not a coincidence that ...