Circus Politics: Will Our Freedoms Survive Another Presidential Election? by John W. Whitehead January 28, 2016 “Never has our future been more unpredictable, never have we depended so much on political forces that cannot be trusted to follow the rules of common sense and self-interest—forces that look like sheer insanity, if judged by the standards of other centuries.” ― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism Adding yet another layer of farce to an already comical spectacle, ...
The Libertarian Angle: The Case for Open Borders by Future of Freedom Foundation January 26, 2016 Each week, FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard M. Ebeling discuss the hot topics of the day. This week, Jacob and Richard, and special guest Bryan Caplan discuss the merits and morality of an open immigration policy. Go to the podcast.
What If Obama Believed in Individual Liberty and Free Markets? by Richard M. Ebeling January 25, 2016 President Barack Obama delivered his final State of the Union address on January 12, 2016, and devoted most of the time to defending his “legacy” of bigger and more intrusive government, with an emphasis on the other aspects of personal and social life he wished could come under the blanket of more political paternalism, if only there was ...
The Right to Tell the Government to Go to Hell by John W. Whitehead January 22, 2016 “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”― George Orwell Free speech is not for the faint of heart. Nor is it for those who are easily offended, readily intimidated or who need everything wrapped in a neat and tidy bow. Free speech is often messy, foul-mouthed, obscene, intolerant, ...
Common Misconceptions about Rights by Benedict D. LaRosa January 21, 2016 The debate about gun rights sparked by President Obama’s recent executive actions and his town hall meeting of January 7, 2016, has brought to light several popular misconceptions, of which the following are some of the more egregious. Misconception #1: Only United States citizens have the right to keep and bear arms, and then only within the borders of the ...
Republican Medicaid Wars Miss the Real Issue by Laurence M. Vance January 20, 2016 Republicans are at it again. Just as they battle with Democrats over things that are relatively unimportant, so they fight with each other. But, as usual, they miss the real issue. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as the PPACA, the ACA, or Obamacare, was signed into law by Barack Obama on March 23, 2010, after the ...
The Libertarian Angle: History of Economic Thought, Part 2 by Future of Freedom Foundation January 19, 2016 Each week, FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard M. Ebeling discuss the hot topics of the day. This week, Jacob and Richard continue thei review the early history of economics from Adam Smith through David Ricardo and John Stuart Mill. The Libertarian Angle airs weekly. Go to the podcast.
How Lithuania Helped Take Down the Soviet Union by Richard M. Ebeling January 18, 2016 This year, 2016, will mark the twentieth-fifth anniversary of the end of the Soviet Union from the political map of the world. A quarter of a century ago, the menace of Soviet-led communism, which had haunted the globe since the time of the Russian Revolution in 1917, disintegrated from within and passed into the dustbin of history. The Soviet Empire ...
The Libertarian Angle: History of Economic Thought by Future of Freedom Foundation January 13, 2016 Each week, FFF president Jacob Hornberger and Richard M. Ebeling discuss the hot topics of the day. This week, Jacob and Richard review the early history of economics from Adam Smith through David Ricardo and John Stuart Mill. The Libertarian Angle airs weekly. Go to the podcast.
The State of the Nation: A Dictatorship Without Tears by John W. Whitehead January 12, 2016 “There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted ...
Individualism Is Battling The Politically Managed Mind In The 21st Century by Richard M. Ebeling January 11, 2016 Wherever we turn we are confronted with politicians, political pundits, television talking heads, and editorial page commentators, all of whom offer an array of plans, programs, and projects that will solve the problems of the world – if only government is given the power and authority to remake society in the design proposed. Even many of those who claim to ...
Bibles, Hotels, Christians, and Atheists by Laurence M. Vance January 7, 2016 The Gideons International wants to place copies of the Bible in all hotel rooms. Most hotels have complied with the request. Many Americans like the idea. Other Americans don’t care one way or the other. Some Americans want the Bibles removed. In a free society, the questions of whether the Gideons should or shouldn’t make such a request, whether hotels ...