Socialism

The Green New Dealers and the New Socialism

by Richard M. Ebeling January 23, 2019

The philosopher George Santayana is credited with the phrase “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Never was that truer than today in the face of the reborn belief in some notion of a “democratic” socialism and its companying idea of government-directed planning and redistribution. It’s as if the entire experience of the 20th century ...

We Have a Farm Bill

by Laurence M. Vance January 11, 2019

We have a farm bill — finally. The previous farm bill (The Agricultural Act of 2014) expired on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018. Although this left several agricultural, environmental, conservation, and nutrition programs in limbo, they were kept alive through continuing appropriations bills. Every five years, Congress passes a farm bill that sets national agriculture, nutrition, conservation, and forestry policy and appropriates ...

No One Should Receive Federal Grants for College

by Laurence M. Vance December 20, 2018

Until 1994, inmates in federal and state prisons were eligible to receive federal Pell Grants to finance their college education while they served their time. A pilot program, Second Chance Pell, was instituted in 2015 to open up Pell Grants to a select group of inmates working towards their college degrees. According to a recent NPR ...

The Libertarian Angle: Charity vs. Welfare

by Future of Freedom Foundation December 12, 2018

What is the difference between welfare and charity? When charity is compulsory, is it truly charity? What is the difference between compulsory charity and theft? FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling discuss. Go to the podcast.

Freedom Frauds: My Train Trip to Communist Hell

by James Bovard December 4, 2018

Millennials like Communism?!? I was vaccinated against it when I traveled to Romania, dodging secret agent hookers, surly clerks, and gullible guards with machine guns. Go to the audio podcast. View other episodes of Freedom Frauds.

Privatizing Coercion

by Laurence M. Vance November 12, 2018

Every day, roughly 10,000 baby boomers do the same thing: they retire. And when they retire, the first thing they generally do is apply for Social Security. There are actually two parts to Social Security (OASDI). The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) program provides monthly benefits to retired workers, families of retired workers, and survivors of deceased workers. The Disability Insurance ...

Karl Marx and the Great Socialist Revival

by James Bovard October 1, 2018

Socialism’s popularity is reviving in America. A self-proclaimed socialist won the Democratic nomination for a congressional seat in the Bronx, and Democratic Socialist candidates are thriving in many areas of the nation. The Washington Post reported in July that it’s “been a good summer for the Democratic Socialists of America,” who have “never had more adherents or more clout.” ...

Efficiency Experts for the Welfare State

by Laurence M. Vance September 1, 2018

Bordered by two oceans, encompassing 3.8 million square miles, and populated by more than 325 million people, the United States is a vast country. But although the United States is not yet a cradle-to-grave welfare state like many European countries, it is also a vast welfare state. There are in the United States about 80 means-tested welfare programs. These are ...

The Sanctifying of Plunder

by Leonard Read September 1, 2018

The law ...  has converted plunder into a right, in order to protect plunder. — Frédéric Bastiat The commandment “Thou shalt not steal” would be far better kept today had not theft assumed various disguises under which its practice has been generally sanctified. The gilding of an evil gives it a virtuous face — a Mr. Hyde’s ugliness covered by ...

Socialists Masquerading as Liberals

by James Cook September 1, 2018

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune (a left-wing newspaper) featured a quotation on the Sunday editorial page that claims that without intensive regulation “capitalism is a menace to society.” From the end of the Civil War in the United States to World War I federal government regulations barely existed. This laissez-faire capitalism catapulted living standards upward and generated a host of new ...

The Libertarian Angle: College Socialism

by Future of Freedom Foundation August 7, 2018

What would a free market in education look like? FFF president Jacob G. Hornberger and Richard Ebeling discuss. Go to the podcast.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Planned Chaos

by Dominick T. Armentano August 6, 2018

The mainstream media is currently hyper-ventilating over Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the self-styled “democratic socialist” from Queens who pulled off an upset win in a New York Democratic primary recently. She has since gone on to campaign with Bernie Sanders in the Midwest and has appeared on dozens of soft talk shows; all this, of course, without being seriously challenged about ...