Socialism

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 ...

Socialism, Like Dracula, Rises Again From the Grave

by Richard M. Ebeling July 17, 2018

Many of us grew up watching movies about Dracula — Nosferatu, the Undead. Fearful of the sunlight that could burn him into cinders, Dracula lived in a coffin filled with his native Transylvanian soil by day, only to come out at night to live off the life-giving blood of the living. But to continue his unnatural existence, this human-like ...

The Libertarian Angle: Democratic Socialism (video)

by Future of Freedom Foundation July 11, 2018

What is democratic socialism and what is its import for a free society? FFF president Jacob G. Hornberger and Richard M. Ebeling discuss. Go to the podcast.

A Divergent Convergence of Epic Proportions

by Laurence M. Vance June 6, 2018

Social Security is in dire straits. Payroll tax increases and benefit cuts are on the horizon. According to the latest annual report by the Social Security Board of Trustees (“The 2017 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and Federal Disability Insurance Trust Funds”), Social Security’s combined trust funds face ...

The Libertarian Angle: Marx’s 200th Birthday (video)

by Future of Freedom Foundation May 8, 2018

Some are celebrating the the 200th birthday of Karl Marx, author of Das Kapital. Jacob Hornberger and Richard Ebeling tell you why it is no reason to celebrate. Go to the podcast.

Karl Marx and Marxism at Two Hundred

by Richard M. Ebeling May 7, 2018

German translation Greek translation A specter continues to haunt the world, the specter of Karl Marx. Two hundred years ago, on May 5, 1818, the father of twentieth century totalitarian communism, the guidebook writer of revolutionary mass-murdering dictatorship, and the inspirer of disastrous socialist central planning was born in Trier, Germany. Looking ...